Last updated: 8/9/2011
491 Dutton Street
Lowell, MA 01854-4221
Closed on holidays.
Sunday, Wednesday - Saturday
10 AM - 5 PM
School and scout programs available by reservation Monday through Sunday. For reservations phone 978-441-0400 ext. 250
See museum website; lots of categories.
isit the new main exhibition, Textile Revolution: An Exploration through Space and Time, to spin, weave, recycle, and design your way through textile history. Simulate parachuting from a real single-engine plane, throw the shuttle on an authentic hand loom, and design your own clothing line on a computer. See how textiles are changing your world, from protective clothing for firefighters and soldiers to revolutionary “shark skin” suits for our gold-medal Olympic swimmers - and so much more. You’ll never look at the fascinating world of textiles the same way again.
The American Textile History Museum tells America’s story through the art, history, and science of our textiles.
Caroline Stevens Rogers, a member of a venerable textile industry family and a handweaver and dyer in her own right, founded the Merrimack Valley Textile Museum in North Andover, Massachusetts in 1960. Since its founding, the American Textile History Museum (ATHM) has expanded its mission, changed its name, and relocated to its present home in historic Lowell., Massachusetts. It has been accredited by the American Association of Museums since 1973.
An organizational restructuring of the Museum got underway in 2006. James S. Coleman was named interim Executive Director in January to help meet the challenge of funding the Museum’s operations and to formulate a plan to take the Museum forward. The Textile Conservation Center closed as a department of the Museum later that month and in April the Museum successfully negotiated an agreement to sell part of its Dutton Street building for conversion into mixed-use space including residential lofts, and the home of The Sun, the region’s daily newspaper. The Museum launched a $1 million challenge to grow its endowment and ensure the preservation of its collections, which will be matched dollar for dollar by an anonymous donor at the Maine Community Foundation. The Chace Catalogue came on-line in June 2006, enabling visitors to the Museum’s website to gain access to key portions of its curatorial and storage facilities through the technology of a virtual museum. Coleman succeeded in crafting a strategic plan and a preliminary budget to renovate and strengthen the Museum in order to achieve growth and financial stability, and the Board of Trustees agreed to move forward with the plan to build its future in Lowell. In July Coleman accepted the permanent position of President/CEO offered to him by the Museum’s Board of Trustees, with a firm commitment to finding the right formula for the Museum’s success in the Lowell community. In September he presented the Museum's vision of the future to Museum members and friends with a sneak preview of the exciting plans for renovating the Textiles in America core exhibition to bring it into the 21st century.
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