Berry College Archives

Record Group 15: Historic Berry
Handicrafts Series

Inclusive Dates: 1929-2003 

Size: 1.33 cubic feet 

Bulk Dates:  

Provenance:

Restrictions: none 

Organizational Information: Martha Berry opened The Boys' Industrial School in 1902, for rural boys in the Northwest Georgia area. In 1909, Miss Berry established a school for girls, forming The Berry Schools, which eventually became Berry College. As part of the Girls' School curriculum, weaving was incorporated and collectively performed by students in weaving rooms at Sunshine Shanty/Cottage (1916-28), the Ford Buildings (1928-97), and the Hoge Building (1997-2003). The Handicrafts program was closed in September 2003.

For more information about Handicrafts see “The Weaving Room: The History of Weaving at Berry College .” ( Berry College Archives Vertical File No. 20021018-16 – Subject Heading, Berry Handicrafts)  

Description: The collection contains items from the Berry College Handicrafts Gift Shop. Box One contains a tufting tool used to create rugs. Box 2 contains artifacts such as labels used for identification of hand woven or hand made items, a cardboard box used to package items sent for mail orders, one hand made rug pattern, two tile block prints, two pieces of correspondence (1937, 1949) from Willie Sue Sullivan, mail orders (1929-1932), and newspaper clippings and articles (1986-90). Also included are photocopies of labels used in a 2003 exhibit highlighting Handicrafts at the Martha Berry Museum. Box 3 contains ledgers documenting sale transactions (1938-1948). Box 4 contains two hand woven pillows and a handmade doll. Five additional oversize rug patterns are included in the collection

Additional information about Handicrafts can be found in the Berry College Archives Vertical File, Subject Heading – Berry Handicrafts. For preservation purposes, two Handicrafts signs were removed from the collection and are housed in the Berry College Archives Vertical File, Subject Heading – Berry Handicrafts (20031007-05, 20031007-06).

Arrangement : 

  • Box 1 Tufting Tool
  • Box 2 Artifacts, newspaper clippings, miscellaneous correspondence
  • Box 3 Ledgers
  • Box 4 Artifacts 

Subject Headings:

  • Berry College. Handicrafts
  • LeCroy, Jennifer
  • Sullivan, Willie Sue
  • Weaving 

Miscellaneous:

  • Amy Summerlin processed these papers in 2003.
  • Accessions 20030819, 20030917 

Preferred Citation: 

Permission to publish must be obtained from the Executive Assistant to the President. Please cite: Item identification, Record Group 15 Historic Berry - Handicrafts Series, Berry College Archives, Memorial Library, Berry College.

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