Mary Meigs Atwater letter to H. G. Merriam, 1936 February 5
Table of Contents
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Atwater, Mary Meigs
- Title
- Mary Meigs Atwater letter to H. G. Merriam
- Dates
- 1936 February 51936-02-051936-02-05
- Quantity
- 1 item
- Collection Number
- 0530, Collection 0530, MtBC, us (collection)
- Summary
- Mary Meigs Atwater was a weaver who lived in Basin, Montana, in the early twentieth century. Her letter to H. G. Merriam is Atwater's response to Merriam's request by describing her guild, her weaving correspondence courses, her promotion of weaving for therapeutic work in rehabilitation and mental hospitals, and some personal information on her family. Also included are Atwater's printed weaving patterns as designed or presented.
- Repository
- Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851 - Access Restrictions
-
This collection is open for research.
- Languages
- Collection materials are in English
Biographical Note
Mary Meigs Atwater was born in Rock Island, Illinois on February 28, 1878. She received her early education by private tutors, and studied design in France around the turn of the twentieth century. She married Maxwell W. Atwater, a mining engineer, in 1903 and the couple had two children, Montgomery and Elizabeth. She organized a hand loom weaver's guild while living in Basin, Montana, around 1916 and eventually offered correspondence courses for the craft based on her research of various designs. Atwater wrote numerous articles and books on weaving during her career, and she died in 1956.
Content Description
In early 1936 Mary Atwater was contacted by Harold Guy Merriam, an English professor at Montana State University in Missoula, for information on her weaving school. Merriam had been appointed state supervisor of the Federal Writers' Project and his work would culminate in the publication of Montana, A State Guide Book in 1939. Atwater responded to Merriam's request with this letter describing her guild, her weaving correspondence courses, her promotion of weaving for therapeutic work in rehabilitation and mental hospitals, and some personal information on her family. A second folder of printed weaving patterns designed or presented by Atwater is included.
Use of the Collection
Preferred Citation
[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Atwatter letter was donated to Montana State University by Merrill G. Burlingame in 1967. A second folder of printed weaving patterns created by Atwater, and formerly accessioned as Collection 2001, was added to this collection on March 26, 2012.
Processing Note
This collection was processed 2012 May 26
Detailed Description of the Collection
- Description: Mary Meigs Atwater letter to H. G. MerriamContainer: Folder 1
- Container: Folder 2
- Description: Blueprints of weaving patternsDates: 1917Container: Folder os 3
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Hand weaving--Montana--Basin (Mont.)--Societies, etc.
- Hand weaving--Study and teaching
- Hand weaving--Therapeutic use
- Women weavers--Montana--Basin--Correspondence
Personal Names
- Atwater, Mary Meigs--Correspondence
- Merriam, H. G. (Harold Guy), 1883-1980--Correspondence
Corporate Names
- Federal Writers' Project
Geographical Names
- Montana
Form or Genre Terms
- Correspondence
