Weavers of the Southern Highlands

The art of weaving is vital to the cultural heritage of Southern Appalachia. Long after consumers in other regions of the United States turned to commercial textiles for their fabrics, weaving in Appalachia flourished as both a treasured folk art and a means for economic activity, especially among women. The Fireside Industries of Berea College in Kentucky began with women weaving to supply their children's school expenses and later developed student labor programs, in which hundreds of students covered their tuition by weaving. Berea's model inspired other schools, such as Arrowcraft, associated with the Pi Beta Phi School at Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and the Penland Weavers and Potters, begun at the Appalachian School at Penland, North Carolina. Soon, weaving centers sprouted all over Appalachia. In Weavers of the Southern Highlands, Philis Alvic describes this unique history, drawing on comprehensive, firsthand research at many of these centers, interviews, and her own lifelong career in the textile arts.