Oral History Interview Robert L. Douglas

Partial Transcript: Today is April 7th, 1984. My name is Teka Ward. I'm interviewing Bob Douglas. We are in Top House at The Little Loomhouse, 328 Kenwood Hill Road, Louisville, Kentucky.

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

Keywords: Bob Douglas; Kenwood Hill; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Louisville, Kentucky; Louisville, Ky; Robert Douglas; Teka Ward; The Little Loomhouse; Top House

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

Partial Transcript: Bob, you are the president of the Board of Directors of the Lou Tate Foundation Incorporated. I have heard that you first saw Lou Tate when you were a little boy, right here on these premises.

Segment Synopsis: Douglas, who is the president of the Board of Directors of the Lou Tate Foundation Inc., describes his first encounter with Lou Tate and her cabins. He was first introduced to The Little Loomhouse and Lou Tate as a child growing up on Kenwood Hill. After Douglas went away to college to study architecture and then returned to Louisville (around 1971), he ran into Lou Tate and she asked him to help her work on the cabins. He has been helping to maintain the buildings ever since. He speaks about restoring the cabins, and working to get them added to the National Register, as well as applying for various restoration grants and funds.

Keywords: 1950; 1971; Community Development Agency; Devil's Backbone; First Lady of Folk Arts; Folk arts; Kentucky landmarks; Kentucky State Fair; Kenwood Hill; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Louisville landmarks; National Register; National Register of Historic Places; Placemats; Preservation Fund; The Little Loomhouse; Top House; Wisteria

Subjects: Agricultural exhibitions; Architecture; Coverlets; Erosion; Folk art; Kentucky--History; Log cabins; Looms; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Preservation; Restoration and conservation; Textiles; Weaving

Partial Transcript: In the meantime, before any funding, in fact, came the way of the Lou Tate Foundation, Lou Tate's health deteriorated...

Segment Synopsis: Douglas explains how the Lou Tate Foundation was established. He also lists the founding officers and board members of the foundation and describes the early work of the board and their three primary goals.

Keywords: Ann Kiper; Arnold Lynch; Charles Moberly; Community Development; Drafts; Earle B. Fowler; Founding board; John Ryan Jr.; June 2, 1979; Local Landmarks Association; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Lou Tate Foundation Inc.; Lou Tate Foundation Incorporated; Louisa Tate Bousman; Michael Kirk; Smithsonian; Sue Kendrick; The Little Loomhouse; Thelma Hogan; Vivian Hyatt

Subjects: Boards of directors; Coverlets; Education; Foundations; Grants; Kentucky--History; Log cabins; Looms; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Preservation; Restoration and conservation; Weaving

Partial Transcript: So, the next job was my working with the Executive Director to find the appropriate architectural firm to do the work for the cabins...

Segment Synopsis: Douglas describes the process of selecting an architectural firm and a contractor for the job of restoring Top House. The restoration process took almost a year. A lot of the money in the process was spent on structural maintenance, and not on the outward appearance of the building. Douglas also describes the original layout of Top House.

Keywords: Jasper Ward; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; The Little Loomhouse; Top House; Ward & Taylor Architects

Subjects: Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Preservation; Restoration and conservation; Weaving

Partial Transcript: Wisteria Cabin, which we are anxious to work on, needs much the same kind of work that Top House did...

Segment Synopsis: Douglas talks about restoring the other two cabins: Wisteria Cabin and The Little Loomhouse (or Esta House). He also describes a visit made by Frank Lloyd Wright to The Little Loomhouse.

Keywords: 1870; 1895; Board and batten; Esta House; Frank Lloyd Wright; Kenwood Hill; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Lower House; The Little Loomhouse; Wisteria; Wisteria cabin

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

Partial Transcript: Also during the restoration, when we took the attic out in order to restructure the roof and install the new trusses, we discovered a sky light...

Segment Synopsis: Douglas further describes the restoration of the Top House. He explains that all of the door and window openings are original and describes the heat sources chosen for the cabin. He goes on to explain the desired restoration budgets for the remaining cabins, as well as their imagined uses.

Keywords: Dog Trot House; Dogtrot House; Double pen house; Esta House; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Lower House; Skylights; South End; South Louisville; The Little Loomhouse; Top House; Two pen house; Wisteria Cabin; Wood stoves

Subjects: Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Restoration and conservation; Stoves; Weaving

Partial Transcript: The cabins have long been a part of the history of Louisville, and particularly of South Louisville, from 1870 onward...

Segment Synopsis: This section contains a brief description of the history of The Little Loomhouse cabins. They have had connections to the arts community in Louisville since early in their creation, and Douglas describes some of that artistic history here. Douglas then briefly describes Lou Tate's history and her invention of the Little Loom. This is also the end of the first side of the first tape.

Keywords: 1870; Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Appalachian region; Berea College; Bob McKnight; Dr. Mather; Eleanor Roosevelt; First Lady Hoover; First Lady Roosevelt; Folk arts; Happy Birthday; Happy Birthday song; Little looms; Lou Henry Hoover; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Mary Wolf; South End; South Louisville; St. Mark's Lutheran Church; University of Michigan

Subjects: First ladies; Folk art; Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Presidents' spouses; Textiles; Weaving

Partial Transcript: This is side two of the April 7th, 1984 interview with Bob Douglas in Top House...

Segment Synopsis: Douglas explains more about the invention of the Little Looms and the work of Sam Kendrick and Roy Heimerdinger. Douglas also talks about the stories the Lou Tate would tell about the history of the area, including how it got one of its alternative names, "Sunshine Hill."

Keywords: Buffalo trace; Indians; Kenwood Hill; Little Looms; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Native Americans; Roy Heimerdinger; Sam Kendrick; Sue Kendrick; Sunshine Hill; The Little Loomhouse

Subjects: Folk art; Indians of North America; Kentucky--History; Looms; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Teaching; Weaving

Partial Transcript: Lou Tate's real teaching program began perhaps as early as 1935 or 1934...

Segment Synopsis: Douglas credits much of Lou Tate's early creation of her teaching programs to her work with Lou Henry Hoover to create the Little Loom to help with her work with Girl Scouts. Douglas also tells the story of the how First Lady Hoover gave Lou Tate her nickname. Then he explains how Lou Tate became connected with the Speed Art Museum.

Keywords: Berea College; Eleanor Roosevelt; First Lady Hoover; First Lady Roosevelt; Folk Arts in Kentucky; Hattie Bishop Speed; Little Looms; Lou Henry Hoover; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Mrs. Hoover; Mrs. Roosevelt; National Committee on Folk Arts; Speed Art Museum; Speed Museum; The Little Loomhouse; University of Louisville; UofL

Subjects: First ladies; Folk art; Girl Scouts; Kentucky--History; Looms; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Museums; Presidents' spouses; Universities and colleges; Weaving

Partial Transcript: Part of the interest in Lou's teaching interest and ability was based upon the fact that she had, for a number of years, gathered weaving drafts...

Segment Synopsis: Douglas talks about Lou Tate's collections of weaving drafts from residents of the region. Specifically, Douglas is interested in the drafts of Scottish Tartans. He also talks about Lou Tate's disinterest in profiting from her collection.

Keywords: Drafts; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Scottish Tartans; The Little Loomhouse

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

Partial Transcript: I've been fortunate enough to travel in the last few years and...

Segment Synopsis: Douglas explains how in his travels in recent years, he has realized how internationally renowned Lou Tate is for her weaving knowledge and collection. Lou Tate consulted weavers from across the globe on weaving related projects and research questions.

Keywords: Canada; Cape Breton; Drafts; Florence Mackley; Kentucky State Fair; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; The Little Loomhouse

Subjects: Agrigultural exhibitions; Coverlets; Coverlets--Private collections; Kentucky--History; Looms; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Research; Textiles; Weaving; Weaving--patterns; Woolen and worsted drawing

Partial Transcript: Lou may have been dubbed just plain "Lou Tate," but I learned in the years that I was acquainted with her that she was, in fact, a very complex individual, and...

Segment Synopsis: Douglas talks about how flattered he felt to be invited into the lower cabin, which was Lou Tate's living space, towards the end of her life. He also describes some of her worries about having to leave the hillside around that time. Lou Tate had a sense of order and purpose in her home and everything she did, despite her home being very full of all sorts of things. He talks about the way Lou Tate lived amongst all her belongings. This segment marks the end of side two, tape one.

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

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

Partial Transcript: Today is April 7th, 1984. My name is Teka Ward. I am with Bob Douglas, and we are at Top House at The Little Loomhouse, 328 Kenwood Hill Road, Louisville, Kentucky. Our topic is the history of Lou Tate and The Little Loomhouse, and we are now going to take a walking tour of the grounds.

Segment Synopsis: Douglas takes Teka Ward on a walking tour of The Little Loomhouse grounds beginning at Top House. He describes the insides and outsides of the buildings, as well as their current and historic uses. He also describes the landscape surrounding the cabins. Douglas moves too far away from microphone at around 1:13:00 and becomes difficult to hear/understand.

Keywords: Board and batten; Dog Trot Houses; Dogtrot Houses; Esta; Lou Tate; Lou Tate Bousman; Louisa Tate Bousman; Open houses; The Little Loomhouse; Top House; Wisteria

Subjects: Kentucky--History; Louisville (Ky.)--History; Restoration and conservation; Vernacular architecture; Weaving