Top left: Prototype of the award-winning NASA space glove designed by Maine resident Peter Horner. Photos: Jim Higgins.
Looking at Tomorrow While Remembering the Past:
Combining the word “textile” with “history” brings up memories of obligatory fifth-grade field trips and Colonial spinning wheels. The revitalized American Textile History Museum in Lowell takes visitors beyond where the long-shuttered mills left off. The museum’s new “Textile Revolution” exhibit demonstrates that textiles have applications beyond the clothes on our back. Diverse end-uses such as lightweight carbon-fiber bicycle frames, airplanes and the dollar bills in your wallet are just a few modern products that can claim to be made in part with textiles.
The ATHM’s introductory video of recycled plastic bottles becoming wearable fabric makes us realize how quickly we have accepted truly remarkable inventions as commonplace. The museum celebrates the doggedness and daring behind scientific breakthroughs with personal stories, such as William Perkin’s accidental discovery of synthetic dye and the efforts of Stephanie Kwolek that led to the development of bulletproof Kevlar.
A surprisingly wide range of problems are being solved with advancements in textile science. The study of design in nature, called biomimicry, led to the development of an Olympic swimsuit that imitates the ability of shark skin to reduce drag. Called “technological doping” by some, the suits helped swimmers set multiple world records. One display at the museum enables visitors to slip a hand into the winning design from NASA’s 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge. Peter Homer, an unemployed engineer with a knack for problem solving, tinkered from his home in Maine and came up with a glove that astronauts appreciate for its improved comfort and flexibility.
The textile museum’s dynamic inclusion of local inventions reminds us that innovative thinking, once New England’s defining characteristic, persists. Try to imagine the long New England winters without Polartec, the wonder fabric created by Malden Mills in Lawrence. Air-filled beams encased with sturdy fabric and made in Lowell by Federal Fabrics-Fibers support tents and provide shelter in an instant for U.S. troops deployed throughout the Middle East.
Display of an electro-spinning nano-size textile fiber.
A back-lit electro spinning nanofiber display hints at the limitless possibilities within nanotechnology, the new frontier in textile development. Our region will continue to be at the forefront of this innovation with UMass Lowell’s recent designation as a “Nanomanufacturing Center of Excellence” by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Already in use, nanofibers provide porous “scaffolding” during the healing process for burn victims. In addition to medical applications, nanofibers used in wrinkle-free and stain-resistant clothing have reduced household labor.
Official major league baseballs are deconstructed for an eye-catching display and video highlighting UMass Lowell’s Baseball Research Center and work done there to ensure that the balls used in professional baseball games are built to Major League Baseball-approved standards. Here at the ATHM, even baseballs are considered part of the textile family.
The American Textile History Museum’s mission is to tell America’s story through the art, science and history of textiles. Constantly looking at new ways to showcase the place for textiles in our changing world, the Museum also evokes an intangible, the excitement of creating something new that wasn’t there the day before.
American Textile History Museum: 491 Dutton Street Lowell, MA.
For more information, call (978) 441-0400 or visit www.ATHM.org.
Major League baseballs are made to exact specifications with textiles from around the world.
The American Textile History Museum
Top left: Prototype of the award-winning NASA space glove designed by Maine resident Peter Horner. Photos: Jim Higgins.
Looking at Tomorrow While Remembering the Past:
Combining the word “textile” with “history” brings up memories of obligatory fifth-grade field trips and Colonial spinning wheels. The revitalized American Textile History Museum in Lowell takes visitors beyond where the long-shuttered mills left off. The museum’s new “Textile Revolution” exhibit demonstrates that textiles have applications beyond the clothes on our back. Diverse end-uses such as lightweight carbon-fiber bicycle frames, airplanes and the dollar bills in your wallet are just a few modern products that can claim to be made in part with textiles.
The ATHM’s introductory video of recycled plastic bottles becoming wearable fabric makes us realize how quickly we have accepted truly remarkable inventions as commonplace. The museum celebrates the doggedness and daring behind scientific breakthroughs with personal stories, such as William Perkin’s accidental discovery of synthetic dye and the efforts of Stephanie Kwolek that led to the development of bulletproof Kevlar.
A surprisingly wide range of problems are being solved with advancements in textile science. The study of design in nature, called biomimicry, led to the development of an Olympic swimsuit that imitates the ability of shark skin to reduce drag. Called “technological doping” by some, the suits helped swimmers set multiple world records. One display at the museum enables visitors to slip a hand into the winning design from NASA’s 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge. Peter Homer, an unemployed engineer with a knack for problem solving, tinkered from his home in Maine and came up with a glove that astronauts appreciate for its improved comfort and flexibility.
The textile museum’s dynamic inclusion of local inventions reminds us that innovative thinking, once New England’s defining characteristic, persists. Try to imagine the long New England winters without Polartec, the wonder fabric created by Malden Mills in Lawrence. Air-filled beams encased with sturdy fabric and made in Lowell by Federal Fabrics-Fibers support tents and provide shelter in an instant for U.S. troops deployed throughout the Middle East.
Display of an electro-spinning nano-size textile fiber.
A back-lit electro spinning nanofiber display hints at the limitless possibilities within nanotechnology, the new frontier in textile development. Our region will continue to be at the forefront of this innovation with UMass Lowell’s recent designation as a “Nanomanufacturing Center of Excellence” by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Already in use, nanofibers provide porous “scaffolding” during the healing process for burn victims. In addition to medical applications, nanofibers used in wrinkle-free and stain-resistant clothing have reduced household labor.
Official major league baseballs are deconstructed for an eye-catching display and video highlighting UMass Lowell’s Baseball Research Center and work done there to ensure that the balls used in professional baseball games are built to Major League Baseball-approved standards. Here at the ATHM, even baseballs are considered part of the textile family.
The American Textile History Museum’s mission is to tell America’s story through the art, science and history of textiles. Constantly looking at new ways to showcase the place for textiles in our changing world, the Museum also evokes an intangible, the excitement of creating something new that wasn’t there the day before.
American Textile History Museum: 491 Dutton Street Lowell, MA.
For more information, call (978) 441-0400 or visit www.ATHM.org.
Major League baseballs are made to exact specifications with textiles from around the world.