Penland School of Handicrafts

Penland School of Handicrafts began as the Appalachian School, an educational and religious institution established in 1913 by the Episcopal Church in Penland area near Spruce Pine, North Carolina. In 1920 Miss Lucy Morgan, the sister of the school's founder, assumed the operation of the Appalachian School, and she began to investigate the possibility of a handweaving revival in the Penland area as a way of providing a cash income for local women. After taking a weaving course at Berea, she purchased several small looms of the Berea type and began placing them in the homes of local women who were interested in learning to weave. The enterprise grew, and Penland Weavers was established in 1923. Its products found a ready market at resorts, state fairs and church meetings, as well as through the distribution of catalogs.

In 1928 the foremost authority on handweaving in the United States, Edward P. Worst of Chicago, began spending summers at Penland to teach and serve as an advisor on weaving. In the following year students from outside the area began to come to Penland to study weaving with Worst, and the Penland School of Handicrafts was born. As Penland's reputation as a weaving center grew, there were requests for additional craft instruction. Pottery was first added, followed by pewter work. Then "related crafts" including stenciling, chip carving, and chair seating began to be taught, often using local craftspeople such as chairmaker Arthur Woody.

Penland has always been a leader in the craft movement. In 1928 the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild, the most prestigious organization of its kind, was organized at a meeting held at Penland. Penland School has moved beyond its Craft Revival roots, and today it is known as one of the finest contemporary craft schools in the nation, but it has never forgotten the ideals of Miss Lucy Morgan.

Click here to read about Penland and the 1933 World's Fair.