By Theresa Knapp 

The Town of Hopedale has donated one of its Draper looms to the University of Minnesota, specifically to “Draper Loom Research, LLC” whose mission, according to the donation agreement “is to advance research and education on the Model XD Draper Loom.” 

At its meeting on Sept. 23, Select Board members Bernie Stock and Scott Savage approved the donor agreement between the town and the university. Selectperson Glenda Hazard was absent. 

Suzan Ciaramicoli, volunteer curator at the Little Red Shop Museum and a member of the Hopedale Historical Commission, attended the meeting to discuss the donation. The loom, she said, is one of several that have been in storage since the LRSM underwent a renovation in 2007. A few of the looms were sold or on loan, and the remainder have been at the Samuel Slater Experience museum in Webster since 2018. 

Ciaramicoli said that representatives from the University of Minnesota reached out to the LRSM through Facebook and the LRSM has been working together “for a couple of years.” 

“Now they’ve formed a nonprofit called ‘Draper Loom Research LLC’ for the purpose of researching, restoring the loom, producing documentation about the restoration, etcetera,” said Ciaramicoli. “One of the gentlemen [Peter Dills] is a staff engineer at the University of Minnesota so he is going to be spearheading this project” which will include students in its engineering and design schools. 

Ciaramicoli said, “They will pay for the transportation of the loom up there. They will share their research, videos, [and] documentation to everyone. And there is another museum in North Carolina that eventually would like that loom to go there because they likely will be getting the rest of our Draper Collection, if approved by the Board of Selectmen. They’re really going to make this a research education project that will benefit many, many people…It will absolutely be for a wonderful cause because all of those looms were headed for the scrapyard.” 

Stock recalled that, in 1975 when he was working as Hopedale’s Town Administrator, Cannon Towel borrowed one of the factory’s Northrop fully automatic power looms on which to weave hand towels for America’s 1976 bicentennial celebration.  

Stock recalled, “That was always the prized marketing tool of the Draper Corporation in the [19]40s and 50s, that every towel woven in the United States was done on a Draper loom; that’s pretty incredible for a little place up there.” 

Ciaramicoli added, “They were the leading manufacturer of cotton looms in the world, so they certainly made their mark.” 

The donation agreement included this quote from Peter Dills, president of Draper Loom Research, LLC, “We’ve searched for this particular loom for years because this model from Draper was the first model dedicated to and capable of the mechanical precision for weaving complex manmade/reconstituted (natural) yarns, including for example, acetate, rayon, etc. The mechanical take-up and its integrated design were unique for Draper and advanced for its time. We have been excited for a long time to have this opportunity to research, restore and preserve this particular loom – and further to share that work with the larger weaving community, scholars, and others interested in historical technology.” 

The donation agreement is signed by the Select Board, Ciaramicoli for the LRSM, and Dills for the University of Minnesota. In the agreement, the town waived its present and future rights to the loom, and said it does not want the loom back when the University is done with it but asked that the loom be “reunited with the collection soon set for donation to the North Carolina Textile Museum” in Franklinville, N.C. 

Ciaramicoli said the loom should be picked up in the very near future. 

Town Administrator Mitch Ruscitti noted the donation adheres to the town’s procurement disbursement policy as the loom does not have any extrinsic value to the general public.