Oral History Interview Sally Moss

Partial Transcript: Today is Sunday, January 13th, 1985. My name is Teka Ward. I am interviewing Sally Moss. Our topic is Lou Tate and the Little Loomhouse, and our interview is taking place at The Little Loomhouse.

Segment Synopsis: Ward introduces the interview by giving the date, her name, her interviewee's name (Moss), their location, and the topic.

Keywords: Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; The Little Loomhouse

Subjects: Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Weaving

Partial Transcript: Sally, currently you are serving as president of the Lou Tate Foundation Board of Directors Incorporated. Tell me of the past positions you've held and how long you've been involved with the board.

Segment Synopsis: Moss explains how she became involved with the board of directors of the Lou Tate Foundation to fill an unexpired term vacated by Charles Moberly. She did not start with the board, but came on in the first year. She explains that she wasn't on the original board because she was pregnant.

Keywords: Charles Moberly; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Lou Tate Foundation; Louisa Tate Bousman; The Little Loomhouse

Subjects: Boards of directors; Foundations; Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Weaving

Partial Transcript: Tell us when you first met Lou Tate.

Segment Synopsis: Moss recalls how she first met Lou Tate in 1968 through Hal Tenny and her shop in downtown Louisville named "Ah! Sunflower." She specifically discusses the first time she visited the Little Loomhouse. She explains that she found Lou Tate fascinating upon first meeting her. They agreed on an exchange of custom denim jumpers for weaving lessons. She talks about the importance of the utility of Lou Tate's clothing, from requiring pockets, to pinning notes on her jumpers.

Keywords: Ah! Sunflower; Ah! Sunflower: Things of Cloth; Custom dress shops; Denim jumpers; Hal Tenny; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Lou Tate Foundation; Louisa Tate Bousman; Notes; The Little Loomhouse

Subjects: Boards of directors; Coverlets; Fashion designers; Foundations; Jumpers (Dresses); Kentucky--History; Looms; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Pockets; Weaving

Partial Transcript: Did she ever visit downtown, where you worked? Did she ever come see your shop?

Segment Synopsis: Moss explains that Lou Tate didn't often visit around town unless a trip had a purpose related to weaving or research. She explains that mostly people came out to Lou Tate to visit socially, not the other way around. Moss talks about the honor of being invited to visit with Lou Tate in her kitchen because she didn't invite everyone into the Bottom House. She also acknowledges that Lou Tate smoked a lot. She recalls that there would be little sardine and Vienna sausage cans in all the cabins' windowsills that were used as ash trays.

Keywords: Bottom House; Hal Tenny; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Property disputes; The Little Loomhouse; Top House

Subjects: Coverlets; Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Research; Smoking; Smoking stands (Ashtrays); Textiles; Weaving

Partial Transcript: This might be a good time for you to describe...you've referred to a Bottom Cabin and a Top House...this might be a good time for you to describe the cabins.

Segment Synopsis: Moss describes the property where The Little Loomhouse is located as well as the three cabins on the property. She names each of the cabins and describes what they were used for. She also describes the types of food that Lou Tate would eat. Moss especially goes into detail about the large amount of items that were in Bottom House (Esta).

Keywords: Bottom House; Dog trot cabins; Dog trot houses; Dog trots; Dogtrot cabins; Dogtrot houses; Dogtrots; Drafts; Esta; Kenwood Hill; Kenwood Hill Rd; Kenwood Hill Road; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Lower House; Possum Path; The Little Loomhouse; Top House; Wisteria

Subjects: Coverlets; Kentucky--History; Log cabins; Looms; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Vernacular architecture; Weaving; Woolen and worsted drawing

Partial Transcript: When you would sit with her in the kitchen, and you would talk with her, tell me some of the things you all discussed.

Segment Synopsis: Moss describes her times with Lou Tate less as discussions, and more of listening to Lou Tate talk. Lou Tate didn't talk about herself or personal life very often, instead she talked about the Little Loomhouse and all of her weaving ventures. Moss believes that she probably inspired Lou Tate's interest in hosting spinning programs at The Little Loomhouse. They also discuss a photo of Moss with a spinning wheel in front of Wisteria cabin. The photo was taken shortly after they hosted their first spinning bee at The Little Loomhouse. Moss eventually became the spinning teacher in residence at The Little Loomhouse.

Keywords: Brother Kim Malloy; Dayton School of Art and Design; Fleece and Flax Guild; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Mary Drutis-Porter; Milwaukee, WI; Open houses; Pine Mountain Settlement School; Pine Mountain, Ky; Saint Meinrad's Archabbey; Sarah Bailey; Spinning bees; St. Mienrad's Archabbey; The Little Loomhouse; Walking wheels; Wisconsin

Subjects: Auctions; Guilds; Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Preservation; Spinning; Spinning-wheel; Teaching; Weaving

Partial Transcript: When you all would sit in the kitchen, you did say one of the things you discussed was the boundaries, and, I get the impression, ongoing questions concerning boundaries.

Segment Synopsis: Moss talks about the history of the property and the cabins. She recalls the amount of time that Lou Tate spent in court trying to maintain her property boundaries against land developers. The outhouse ended up being the reason that the boundary line was placed where it was. She also discusses the issues with erosion that residents of Kenwood Hill faced over the years. The tape cuts out and Teka Ward reintroduces us with the beginning of side two of the tape. Moss begins talking about the property boundaries again. In talking about the history of Kenwood Hill, Moss talks about how much Lou Tate loved history.

Keywords: Berea; Berea College; Board and batten; Bob Douglas; Bottom House; Buffalo; Esta; Hal Tenny; Hill House; Kenwood Hill Rd; Kenwood Hill Road; Lawsuits; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Mighty oaks of Kenwood Hill; Native American Indians; Oak trees; Possum Path; Stone quarries; Stone quarry; Summer houses; Sunshine Hill; The Little Loomhouse; Top House; Wisteria

Subjects: Actions and defenses; American bison; Erosion; Hides and skins; Housing developers; Indians of North America; Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Oak; Outhouses; Preservation; Salt licks; Universities and colleges; Weaving

Partial Transcript: I think that the biggest thrust of her interest, especially in her later life, was the research of the drafts.

Segment Synopsis: Moss talks about how Lou Tate's interest in history led her to become so interested in the passing down of coverlet drafts and patterns within families. She describes all the types of work Lou Tate did researching drafts as well as some specific examples of patterns and their histories. Lou Tate traveled on horseback in Kentucky and northern Tennessee to collect coverlet patterns from families. Due to that, The Little Loomhouse has a very large collection of coverlet drafts. They also talk about the importance of the titles of coverlet patterns.

Keywords: Cat Tracks and Snail Trails; Drafts; Immigration; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Pine Bloom; Snails Trails and Cats Tracks; The Little Loomhouse

Subjects: Coverlets; Coverlets--Private collections; Families; Family; Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Private collections; Weaving; Weaving--patterns; Woolen and worsted drawing

Partial Transcript: Did the women do most of the weaving?

Segment Synopsis: Moss shares some about the types of weaving and weavers that existed in the region of Kentucky and Tennessee. She describes two separate categories: commercial weaving and home weaving. Moss says that Lou Tate was most interested in the group she refers to as the "women weavers." She also talks about Lou Tate's coverlet collection.

Keywords: Bottom House; Commercial weavers; Esta; Home weavers; Jacquard weavers; Jacquards; Loomhouses; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Professional weavers; Reproductions; The Little Loomhouse

Subjects: Coverlets; Coverlets--Private collections; Jacquard weaving; Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Private collections; Weavers; Weaving; Women weavers

Partial Transcript: Tell us more about the contraption, because I don't know enough to know what to call it, that was near her window that she used...

Segment Synopsis: Moss describes a tool that Lou Tate had set up in her home that allowed her to project draft patterns and copy them by drawing them onto graph paper. She explains the kind of information Lou Tate sent out to her mailing lists, which often included the history of patterns that she had done research on or even the people who had recently visited the Little Loomhouse. They end up discussing Lou Tate's clothing again, and Moss describes that Lou Tate did not like any type of closures on her clothes.

Keywords: Clothes; Copies; Draw-down; Eleanor Roosevelt; Frank Lloyd Wright; Graphs; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; The Little Loomhouse; Velcro

Subjects: Clothing; Coverlets; First ladies; Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Mailing lists; Newsletters; Presidents' spouses; Press releases; Publications; Research; Weaving; Woolen and worsted drawing

Partial Transcript: She also used to, in addition to the typewriter, write things by hand a lot...

Segment Synopsis: Moss and Ward talk briefly about Lou Tate's handwriting and how she corresponded with many people by writing letters. Ward also asks Moss to talk about how Lou Tate changed over the years. Moss describes Lou Tate as a high-energy and independent person. She did not often use charity or grant money for the Little Loomhouse. As she grew older, there were fewer open houses and parties because she had less energy. She only slowed down in the last five years though. Moss describes all the types of exhibits and programming Lou Tate had led prior to her slowing down. The interview cuts off as Moss is describing the passion that Lou Tate really worked to instill in people, especially children, as she was teaching them to weave.

Keywords: Ancestors; Bashford Manor; Beechmont; Chili; Fern Creek; Iroquois; Kentucky State Fair; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Open houses; Pink lemonade; South Louisville; The Little Loomhouse; Traditions; Warping

Subjects: Agricultural exhibitions; Children; Correspondence; Coverlets; Exhibitions; Kentucky--History; Lemonade; Letters; Looms; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Spinning; Teaching; Weaving