Textile Study Group: Susan Walcott | Weaving Identity: Harris Tweed

The story of Harris Tweed, an iconic textile from Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, shows how local rural weavers used their looms to lift communities from the darkest days of the Clearances to producers of a globally treasured fabric. Their tweed is famed for its mandated weaving in home sheds, use of local materials for dyes, and sturdy construction. Textile is usually the first product to move from field to factory, but Harris Tweed preserved the role of craft on crofts from the Opium War days to Chinese acquisition attempts.

Susan Walcott is a retired professor of geography at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Previous books and publications highlighted global development issues particularly in China and Asia.

The first two meetings of the Textile Study Group for 2024 will be on ZOOM to take advantage of a presenter who has moved out of state and give participants a stay at home option.