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TEXTILE EXHIBIT IN NAZARETH

Morning Call - Allentown, Pa. Author: ALYCE TEMPLETON (A free-lance story for The Morning Call)

Copyright Morning Call May 11, 1997

Alyce Templeton is a free-lance writer. If you have information to share through this column, please write to: Alyce J. Templeton c/o The Morning Call, 35 S. 3rd St., Easton, Pa. 18042.

Moravian textile production in the 18th century is the focus of "Spin and Weave Compelled by Love," a new exhibit by the Moravian Historical Society at the Whitefield House in Nazareth.

The exhibit includes both the processing of flax and wool into cloth and the philosophy behind the work.

Guest curator is Mark Turdo of Bethlehem Township, a senior at Moravian College who has been a field study intern at the Whitefield House for the past three semesters.

In preparation for the exhibit, Turdo did extensive research using records at the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, in addition to records in the Moravian Historical Society. Turdo has been interested in 18th century textile production for many years, and this exhibit gave him the opportunity to examine the topic in greater detail.

The title of the exhibit, "Spin and Weave Compelled by Love," comes from a hymn composed by Moravian Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg in Bethlehem in 1745 for the spinning sisters. It expresses the 18th century Moravian ideal that manual labor, no matter how humble, is an extension of God's work. It is an act of worship at the same time that it is a function necessary to survival.

The exhibit begins with maps of Bethlehem and Nazareth showing where the fields and industries were located. It examines linen production from growing flax to breaking it, heckling it, and the many other steps required to turn it into cloth. The wool production includes shearing the sheep to spinning and dying yarn to weaving cloth. Examples of actual 18th century clothing, sheets, and other textile items also are included.

The exhibit can be seen on the first floor gallery of the Whitefield House in Nazareth through Oct. 12. The Whitefield House is at 214 E. Center Street (Route 191) in Nazareth and is open 1-4 p.m. daily. There is a nominal admission charge.

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