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There is something of the artist in all of us. One of the most touching examples is found in the history of hooked rugs made by the women of coastal Maine, Newfoundland, and Labrador. The rug program in Newfoundland and Labrador started in the early 1900's, under the auspices of the Grenfell Mission. The Maine Seacoast Mission developed a special hooked rug department for women along the coast and islands of Maine, and it reached its height of its productivity between 1923 and 1934. Both the Maine Seacoast Mission and the Grenfell Mission developed these programs to provide income for the women and their families, and to overcome the women's isolation.
These two programs have been brought together by our speaker, Judith Burger-Gossart, in her book "Three Centuries of Hooking" (Mount Desert Historical Society, 2009).
Judith Gossart, a rug hooker herself, is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, with a B.A. is American Studies, an M.A. in History from Columbia and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Connecticut. She is the owner of Sprucewind Antiques, and has participated in many antique shows, worked as a curator in folk art, and teaches at Acadia Senior College.
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Pair of Horses at Watering Pail, Maine Sea Coast Mission. Wool and rag strips on burlap. 1925-1930.
