Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Vegetable Dyes

  • wcu_craft_revival-3995.jpg
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Item
  • This article on vegetable dyes appeared in the 1930 issue of "Mountain Life and Work." The two page article offers a brief introduction into the process of vegetable dyeing. Advocating a return to the quality of hand-crafted objects, the article illustrates the main tenet of the Craft Revival. Included are sources for dyes, including which materials must be imported, and which are available locally. The article was written by Helen Wilmer Stone (ca. 1891-1978), a vegetable dye expert from Pine Mountain Settlement School in Kentucky. Stone moved to Saluda, N.C. in the 1930s, married, and became known as Wilmer Stone Viner. It was Viner who laid the foundation of vegetable dyeing at the John C. Campbell Folk School. This particular copy of the article belonged to Louise Pitman, who taught dyeing at the John C. Campbell Folk School and claimed that Viner taught her everything she knew about vegetable dyeing.
Object
  • This article on vegetable dyes appeared in the 1930 issue of "Mountain Life and Work." The two page article offers a brief introduction into the process of vegetable dyeing. Advocating a return to the quality of hand-crafted objects, the article illustrates the main tenet of the Craft Revival. Included are sources for dyes, including which materials must be imported, and which are available locally. The article was written by Helen Wilmer Stone, a vegetable dye expert from Pine Mountain Settlement School in Kentucky. Stone moved to Saluda, N.C. in the 1930s, married and became known as Wilmer Stone Viner. It was Viner who laid the foundation of vegetable dyeing at the John C. Campbell Folk School. This particular copy of the article belonged to Louise Pitman, who taught dyeing at the John C. Campbell Folk School and claimed that Viner taught her everything she knew about vegetable dyeing.