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Helen Louise Allen
Helen Louise Allen was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1927 until her death in 1968. Allen was an expert in the history of textiles, interiors, and in weaving and embroidery techniques. She was a pioneer in her field, using historical and anthropological perspectives in the study of textiles.
Allen had a strong interest in ethnographic textiles, building up a private textile collection to support her teaching and research. It was that collection which became the basis for the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection.Within this collection includes the work of Allen herself as well as Allen’s papers, artwork, and photographs. At a young age, Allen learned needlework and weaving from the women in her family. |
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She acquired her first loom in the second grade and made what she recalled was “an olive green pot holder.” The daughter of a professor, Allen moved to Turkey with her family in the fourth grade where they stayed for many years. Here Allen began her fascination with textiles, frequenting a silk weaving shop.
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As a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Allen taught classes in the history of interiors and textiles as well as in weaving. She also conducted short courses on creative stitchery and embroidery. Many of Allen’s published works focused on the subjects of historical and ethnic textiles as well as weaving. In 1935, Allen authored a book called American and European Handweaving which was later revised in 1939. Knowledgeable in many areas of textile design including embroidery and knitting, Allen is perhaps best known for her weaving. As an expert in weaving techniques, Allen developed her own methods for creating texture and pattern. Allen’s historical and ethnographical perspectives on textiles often times translated into her own work. |
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Ruth Ketterer Harris
Over the course of her life, Ruth Ketterer Harris found many ways to share her love of textiles with others. After she earned a BS (1931) in Home Economics Education and a MS (1932) in Home Economics at UW-Madison and she taught home economics at a high school until she married. From 1943 to 1945, she served as curator of the Wisconsin State Historical Society while her husband was in military service. In the 1950s, she taught weaving at the Madison Vocational School. During these years she also taught weaving courses at the UW-Madison when her close friend Helen Louise Allen was traveling. Harris' full-time tenure at UW-Madison began in 1968 when Allen passed away and Harris was appointed the first curator of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection. She continued as curator until 1977, when she retired as Curator Emeritus (Assistant Professor). |
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Harris bequeathed her extensive collection of books to the School of Family Resources and Consumer Sciences. The Ruth Ketterer Harris Book Collection opened in 1992.
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Her memory is also honored through the Collection's annuall RUTH KETTERER HARRIS LECTURE, at which noted textile scholars are invited to present their research.
Past Ruth Ketterer Harris Lectures:
2009. The Sun and the Moon: Protective Motifs in Central and South Asian Embroideries". Victoria Rivers.
2008. “The Embroidered Landscape of the Andes: Creating Textiles as a Way of Life”. Blenda Femenias.
2007. “Uzbek Steppe Embroidery: How Women Preserve Identity”. Kate Fitz Gibbon.
2006. “Contemporary Knitting: The Intersection of Fashion, Craft, Art, and Technology” Sandy Black.
2005. “Fashioning Architecture: Fabric, Form, and Textile Technology” by Bradley Quinn.
2004. “The Search Continues: Where are the 1933 Sears Quilt Contest Quilts?” by Merikay Waldvogel.
2003. “Imperial Ottoman Tents: Mobiles Palaces” by Nurhan Atasoy.
2002. “What do Textiles Say to Each Lying in the Dark? What are collections for, anyway?”. Max Allen.
2001. “Industry and Historic Preservation as Partners: Scalamandre` and Villa Louis”. Robert Bitter, co-president of the New York textile firm, Scalamandre` and Michael Douglass, site director of the Villa Louis Wisconsin State Historical Site.
2000. “The Shinning Cloth: Materials and Meaning”. Victoria Rivers.
1999. “Tana Bana: The Woven Soul of Pakistan”. Noorjehan Bildrami.
1998. “Shared Boundaries”. Gerhardt Knodel.
1997 “A New Look at Old Textiles”. Linda Baumgarten.
1996. “Cooperating for Change: the Ixoq aj Kemmol Women’s Weaving Cooperative in Tactic, Guatemala”. Rosalia Asig Cho` and Amy Giesemann.
1995 “World’s Oldest Textiles.” Elizabeth Wayland Barber.
1993. “The Fashion’s in the Bag: Recycling Feed, Flour, and Sugar sacks during the Middle Decades of the 20th Century”. Rita J. Adrosko.
1990. “The Intuitive Response: Understanding and Collecting Traditional Textiles”. Douglas Dawson.
