Exposing the Color of the Past: Dyeing Wool in the Craft Revival Movement

By Elliott Kerns

The Craft Revival Movement was a multi-faceted endeavor during the 1890s to the early 1900s which sought to revitalize Appalachia’s economy.  Within this movement, there was a rise in Appalachian Folk Music.[i]  During this time, craft schools and settlement schools were established that created their own curricula with which to teach students.  The schools were mainly run by women, which provided Appalachian women with income and opportunities while also providing them with a sense of autonomy.[ii]  The schools sought to train Appalachian children in traditional knowledge so they could make items, create art and crafts, and learn skills that all pertained to Appalachian culture.  One such school established during the Craft Revival Movement was the John C. Campbell Folk School.[iii]  One of the skills taught at such Appalachian folk schools was how to dye wool and weave it to create textiles and fabrics.  Like teaching, women dominated the wool dyeing industry and became experts in this fundamental facet of the Craft Revival Movement. 

            Appalachia proved to be an incredible location for raising sheep—animals who required a certain environment in order to flourish.  In T. L. Clingman’s 1844 letter to T. J. Skinner, he provides proof for the viability of Yancey County for raising sheep.[iv]  Yancey County, located in the northwestern part of North Carolina, is just one example of a location within Appalachia that is suitable for herding and raising sheep.  Cades Cove, a small community that was located in Blount County, Tennessee, provides another example of the sheep industry flourishing in Appalachia.  Cades Cove saw massive growth in the sheep industry after the Civil War—Durwood Dunn writes that “[b]y 1880, wool had become an important market product from the cove.”[v]  Furthermore, the 1910 United States Census provides statistical information about the numbers of sheep in certain areas.  While this early 20th century census offers information for states around the nation, provides insight into more locations in Appalachia that were suitable for sheep raising and wool production.  This census provides statistical information about the wool produced at that time along with which type of sheep were being used.[vi]  Ashe County is another county in North Carolina where sheep raising flourished.  This is clearly evidenced by the 1910 North Carolina Census which cites that 18,658 sheep were present in the county in that year.[vii]  Mitchell County, located southwest of Ashe County, had a total number of 5,381 recorded sheep in the area.[viii]  Jackson County recorded a total number of 7,678 sheep, 5,044 sheep were recorded in Cherokee county, and in Macon County, 6,765 total sheep were recorded in the county.[ix]  This data reveals the viability of Western Carolina in its ability to successfully raise sheep in the region.

Wool was dyed using a variety of different materials.  Emma Conley, a teacher at the Penland School of Crafts, wrote and organized a detailed booklet about the different natural sources such as berries, plants, vegetables, herbs, nuts, and flowers that could be used to dye wool.  She starts her booklet on dyeing wool with a recipe for dyeing with pokeberries.  In terms of plants, Conley details a recipe for leucothia, also known as “dog-hobble,” as well as rhododendron leaves.[x] Conley also includes a recipe using cochineal, an insect that produces a deep, reddish-purple color that then can be used for dyeing fiber.[xi]   She includes further dye recipes sourced from many other plants—broom sedge, sassafras, cocklebur, indigo, sourwood, and white walnut are only a few among the numerous grasses and trees she includes dye recipes sourced from. As for tree nuts for use in dyes, Conley lists acorns, pecan hulls black walnut hulls, alongside tree barks like hickory, applewood, white oak, and maple.  Of the flowers which are viable for dyeing wool are marigolds, goldenrod, and coreopsis- also known as Tickseed. Whether it was a plant, insect, flower, nut, food scrap, or type of bark, a diverse range of materials could be utilized to create wool dyes.[xii]

Louise L. Pitman contributed to Emma Conley’s study by talking about other materials for dyeing wool in a letter she sent to Louis Thun in 1933.  In her letter, Pitman discussed the viability of walnut hulls, sumac berries, lichens, and roots—increasing the known number of berries and plants which can dye wool—in turn contributing to Conley’s study.[xiii]  In a similar nature, Frances Louisa Goodrich contributed to the field of the wool dyeing industry by listing plants in North Carolina that viable for dye production.[xiv]  Goodrich offers more materials that create dyes such as the Chestnut Oak, Alder trees, and Wild Plum trees.[xv]  Her contributions further diversify the industry of wool dyeing and reveal the plethora of substances that Appalachian mountaineers were able to harness and manipulate to produce different colors of dye.

This list is extensive and completely derived from natural materials. Even more impressive is the evidence of women’s roles within this industry.  Conley’s vast work reveals her extensive effort, time, and study in analyzing these substances and compiling this information into a comprehensive booklet that revealed the plethora of useful materials for dye making.

In her 1933 letter to Thun, Pittman spoke briefly about what distinguishes dyes from one another, an element called mordant, Pitman suggests that mordants are crucial to the wool-dyeing process, as they set the dyes so they’re stable when washed and used.  The most common morgants were alum, cream of tartar, or vinegar.[xvi]  Pitman divides vegetable dyes into two categories based on whether or not they need a mordant.[xvii]  Elements which produce dyes and do not need a mordant include substances such as walnut hulls, sumac berries, and lichens.[xviii]  Pitman stated that most dyes do need a mordant.[xix]  In a recipe for vegetable dyes for Penland Handicraft school, Miss Clementine Douglas detailed her use of a mordant, adding that for light colors alum should be used as a mordant whereas for dark colors, to use copperas.[xx]

Many different colors, shades, and hues could be derived from the same natural materials.  While Emma Conley gave the recipe for cochineal in her booklet, there are, however, three different recipes.  One produced a purple color, the second recipe was rose-colored dye, while the third was bright red.[xxi]  Each different recipe for making a dye from cochineal produced a different shade of the color.  Frances Louisa Goodrich illustrates to the variety of colors that materials produce by talking about yellow and how it is garnered by flowers and other substances, while she describes brown as being “rich and various.”[xxii]  Goodrich also discusses the ability to produce multiple hues of colors, writing that “a variety of soft hues are obtained from barks and leaves and flowers, as well as from the indigo and madder.”[xxiii] The color of the dye is also influenced by the type of pot used, like suman berries which “…give gray in an iron pot and brown in a copper one.”[xxiv] Goodrich not only reveals her expertise, but also the skill required of the trade, writing that “[t]he yellow dye-flower, the bay leaf, broom sedge, sneeze-weed, black walnut, spruce pine, and many more, yield beautiful results to those who understand their secrets.”[xxv] Pitman declared that “every yellow flower will dye yellow” and that the colors that fresh flowers produce are better.[xxvi] These processes appear to require attentive observation in order to guarantee the desired product.

Dyeing wool was a process that required much time and effort.  Illustrated by a photograph taken by Doris Ulman in 1933 or 1934, three semi-large logs were constructed to form a tripod in shape from which a large pot was then suspended.[xxvii] Pitman stated that dyeing is better if conducted outside.[xxviii]  Such dye pots as Ullman captures are what are used to dye quantities of wool. The process begins in two ways—the first is soaking the wool in a mordant such as alum so that it can be ready for the dye, an extensive process that involves making the alum solution, cleaning the wool, and then boiling it for an hour in the mixture.[xxix]  Douglas explains that the dyer is then to let the wool remain in the solution overnight where it then should be removed, rinsed, and hung to dry.[xxx]  Complicating the process, Pitman states that the mordanted wool should stay in the alum and cream of tartar solution for 24 hours and then be rinsed in clear water before it is put in the “dye bath.”[xxxi]  This completes the mordanting process so that the wool is ready for the process of dyeing. 

The other important step is the collection of the material with which the individual wants to dye the wool.[xxxii]  Next, the dyer is to put the dye substance into a bag and let the water come to a boil.[xxxiii]  This requires much supervision—Pittman asserts that “…prolonged boiling dulls the fresh beauty of the color, making it strong rather than bright and clear.”[xxxiv]  Different materials had different boiling times, such as bark, which Douglas states is to be boiled for two hours.[xxxv]  After the dye material is removed from the water, the dyer takes the mordanted wool and places it into the water.[xxxvi]  Pitman states that, after this point, the dyeing process only requires a few minutes before it can be removed from the water where it is lightly washed and then hung to dry.[xxxvii] 

Women played a vital and key role in the wool dyeing industry and experienced success during the Craft Revival Movement.  Women such as Emma Conley, Clementine Douglas, and Louisa Pitman reveal how much of an influential impact women had within the wool dyeing industry. A newspaper article titled “Looking at the Crafts” explains Douglas’s expertise in what she does: “Her keen sense of color and design enables her to produce weavings that are of exceptional merit.”[xxxviii]  Furthermore, the newspaper article mentions the success of other Appalachian women, by the names of Mrs. Stone and the Catheys, who found success creating wool blankets and various weavings.[xxxix] Impactful women could be affiliated with prominent folk schools, such as Douglas’ affiliation with the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, or they could be independent, such as Teresa Shapiro. Shapiro, a self-proclaimed business owner from Athens, Georgia, showcases the economic success one can find through the wool industry even years after the Craft Revival Movement.  Mrs. Shapiro has established a “wool felt-making and fabric-designing business” in which she personally makes the felt out of the wool gathered from her multitude of sheep, and then she dyes it.[xl]  From her hand-made and labor-intensive wool, she makes one-of-a-kind jackets and vests off of which she is able to make immense profits.[xli]  Though this business is more modern, it shows the continued success of the wool and wool dyeing industries in Appalachia.

Dyeing wool was a major aspect of the Craft Revival Movement.  Seeking to revitalize Appalachia’s economy, skills such as dyeing wool were emphasized, taught, and learned in an industry dominated by Appalachian women who intensively studied, analyzed, and experimented with different dyes and dye techniques.  This skill required much time, effort, and cultural knowledge about the materials and processes.  Nonetheless, women as these perfected the trade and shared their findings and expertise with others.  The Craft Revival Movement garnered popularity for the wool dyeing industry in Appalachia, but the industry did end with the movement.  Research reveals modern accounts of women continuing to benefit from this industry.  Appalachia proved to be a viable region for raising sheep which enabled the wool industry to flourish, all the while women played their crucial part in the industry.

[i] Samuel McGuire, “The Literary ‘Discovery of Appalachia’ 1870s-1910s and Mountain Feuds,” History 446: Southern Appalachian History (class lecture, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, February 26, 2024).

[ii] Samuel McGuire, “The Literary ‘Discovery of Appalachia’ 1870s-1910s and Mountain Feuds,” History 446: Southern Appalachian History (class lecture, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, February 26, 2024).

[iii] Samuel McGuire, “The Literary ‘Discovery of Appalachia’ 1870s-1910s and Mountain Feuds,” History 446: Southern Appalachian History (class lecture, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, February 26, 2024).

[iv] T.L.  Clingman, letter to T.J. Skinner, Esq., February 3, 1844.

[v] Durwood Dunn, Cades Cove (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1988), 77.

[vi] U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1910 Census: Volume 7. Agriculture, Report by States: Nebraska-Wyoming. Accessed 27 Feb 2024.

[vii] U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1910 Census: Agriculture —North Carolina by Counties, 237.

[viii]1910 Census, 238, 241.

[ix] 1910 Census: Agriculture —North Carolina by Counties, 237.

[x] Emma Conley, Vegetable Dying Penland School of Crafts and Records: Western Carolina University, 1954.

[xi] Emma Conley, Vegetable Dying 1954.

[xii] Conley, Vegetable Dying, 1954.

[xiii] Louise L. Pitman, letter to Louis Thun, 1933.

[xiv] Frances Louisa Goodrich, Mountain Homespun, (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press), 1989.

[xv] Frances Louisa Goodrich, Mountain Homespun, (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press), 1989, 85.

[xvi] Louise L. Pitman, letter to Louis Thun, 1933.

[xvii] Louise L. Pitman, letter to Louis Thun, 1933.

[xviii] Louise L. Pitman, letter to Louis Thun, 1933.

[xix]Louise L. Pitman, letter to Louis Thun, 1933.

[xx] Penland School of Crafts, “Vegetable Dyes- Handicraft School, Penland, N.C.,” Penland School of Crafts, Western Carolina University, 1933.

[xxi] Emma Conley, Vegetable Dying Penland School of Crafts and Records: Western Carolina University, 1954.

[xxii] Frances Louisa Goodrich, “Old Ways and New in the Carolina Mountains,” Southern Highland Craft Guild, Western Carolina Southern Appalachian Digital Collections, 1900s, 211.

[xxiii] Frances Louisa Goodrich, “Old Ways and New in the Carolina Mountains,” Southern Highland Craft Guild, Western Carolina Southern Appalachian Digital Collections, 1900s, 211.

[xxiv] Louise L. Pitman, letter to Louis Thun, 1933.

[xxv] Frances Louisa Goodrich, “Old Ways and New in the Carolina Mountains,” Southern Highland Craft Guild, Western Carolina Southern Appalachian Digital Collections, 1900s, 211.

[xxvi] Louise L. Pitman, letter to Louis Thun, 1933.

[xxvii] Ulmann, Doris. Dye pots, 1933 or 1934. Craft Revival Project John C. Campbell Folk School, Southern Appalachian Digital Collections.

[xxviii] Louise L. Pitman, letter to Louis Thun, 1933.

[xxix] Penland School of Crafts, “Vegetable Dyes- Handicraft School, Penland, N.C.,” Penland School of Crafts, Western Carolina University, 1933.

[xxx] Penland School of Crafts, “Vegetable Dyes- Handicraft School, Penland, N.C.,” Penland School of Crafts, Western Carolina University, 1933.

[xxxi] Louise L. Pitman, letter to Louis Thun, 1933.

[xxxii] Pitman, Louise L. “Vegetable Dyes.” “Bulletin” of the Garden Club of America, Southern Appalachian Digital Collections, 1938.

[xxxiii] Pitman, Louise L. “Vegetable Dyes.” “Bulletin” of the Garden Club of America, Southern Appalachian Digital Collections, 1938.

[xxxiv] Pitman, Louise L. “Vegetable Dyes.” “Bulletin” of the Garden Club of America, Southern Appalachian Digital Collections, 1938.

[xxxv] Penland School of Crafts, “Vegetable Dyes- Handicraft School, Penland, N.C.,” Penland School of Crafts, Western Carolina University, 1933.

[xxxvi] Pitman, Louise L. “Vegetable Dyes.” “Bulletin” of the Garden Club of America, Southern Appalachian Digital Collections, 1938.

[xxxvii] Pitman, Louise L. “Vegetable Dyes.” “Bulletin” of the Garden Club of America, Southern Appalachian Digital Collections, 1938.

[xxxviii] P.B. “Crafts in the Southern Mountains,” Handicrafter, 1931, 41, Southern Appalachian Digital Collections.

[xxxix] P.B. “Crafts in the Southern Mountains,” Handicrafter, 1931, 41, Southern Appalachian Digital Collections.

[xl] MCCARTHY, REBECCA. "SHEAR ELEGANCE Athens woman uses wool to create wearable artwork." The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, December 10, 1989: N/1. NewsBank: Access World News.

[xli] MCCARTHY, REBECCA. "SHEAR ELEGANCE Athens woman uses wool to create wearable artwork." The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, December 10, 1989: N/1. NewsBank: Access World News.

Elliott Kerns was a student in Dr. Manget’s Environmental History class at Western Carolina University in the spring of 2024. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in History in the spring of 2024.