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American Textile History Museum
Announces Launch of the Chace Catalogue
Online Collections

Since this press release was received, many changes have occurred at the American Textile History Museum. It closed for awhile and is now open again to the public since June 2009. As far as I know, the Chace catalog feature is still operational.
~ Patricia Cummings~

Puppet Ballet Fabric design 
by Jacqueline Groag, 
of the Associated American 
Artists, 1953.




LOWELL, (June 14, 2006) 

In a move to use technology to bring its collections online for 
scholars and interested individuals, the American Textile History
Museum is pleased to announce the launch of The Chace
Catalogue. The project, which got underway two years ago, is
sponsored by The Chace Foundation of Providence, Rhode Island.

According to ATHM’s executive director James S. Coleman, 
approximately 600 objects from  the Museum’s collections 
of textiles, decorative arts, tools, machinery and workplace 
artifacts are now available for viewing online. “This is a bold 
step forward for the Museum as a national presence,” said 
Coleman. “Our gratitude goes to the Chace Foundation for 
enabling the Museum to share our unparalleled collections. 
Now, website visitors will have access to key portions of our 
curatorial and storage facilities through the technology of a 
virtual museum.”

Elizabeth and Malcolm Chace are dedicated philanthropists and 
longtime Museum supporters. Mr. Chace has been a member of the 
ATHM Board of Advisors since 1995, and is president and director 
of the Chace Foundation which supports a variety of organizations in the 
areas of arts, education, health, human services, religion and the 
environment.

The Chace Catalogue can be found at www.athm.org under the 
“Collections” tab. Deborah-Ann Giusti, coordinator & cataloguer of the 
Chace Project said that the new online collections database is in the 
pilot phase of the online catalogue project. “We will continue to add 
records to the online database as soon as they are ready for public 
viewing,” she said.

The American Textile History Museum tells America’s story through the 
art, history and science of our textiles. It is the nation’s largest 
and most comprehensive textile museum, and is located in the Kitson 
factory, built in 1860 to manufacture textile machinery.

The Museum is home to the most significant integrated textile history 
collection in North America, with an extraordinary library and one of 
the world’s largest and most important publicly held collections of 
tools, spinning wheels and hand looms. The American Society of 
Mechanical Engineers has designated its industrial machinery as a 
National Historic Engineering Heritage Collection. Its collections of 
books and documents, tools and textile machinery, fabric samples, 
textiles, and costumes come to life in the Textiles in America core 
exhibition, special exhibitions, and educational programs.

The Museum was founded in North Andover, MA in 1960 by Caroline 
Stevens Rogers, a hand-weaver and collector, and has been accredited by 
the American Association of Museums since 1973. Growing from a small 
regional facility to a nationally recognized cultural institution, the 
Museum moved to historic Lowell in 1997 to better serve the public.
The Museum continues its annual fundraising efforts to support the 
Museum’s ongoing operations, collections, development of new 
exhibitions, hands-on learning in the Textile Learning Center (TLC) and 
educational programs which serve over 8,500 area grade school students.
Exhibits and TLC are open during regular Museum hours: Thursdays and 
Fridays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 
Museum is closed on holidays. Admission is $8 for adults; $6 for 
seniors, college students, children 6-16, and groups; free for children 
under 6 and Museum members.

The Museum, an Editors' Choice in the 2006 edition of the Yankee 
Magazine Travel Guide to New England, is located at 491 Dutton Street 
in Lowell, adjacent to the Lowell National Historical Park, 35 miles 
north of Boston off Route I-495. The building is wheelchair 
accessible, and parking is free. Telephone 978-441-0400.  
Web: www.athm.org