Museum L-A is located in a 160-year-old building that once produced the world-famous Bates bedspreads. On Friday, May 6th, 2011 students in grades 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 visited the textile exhibits of Museum L-A. We divided the group into 2 and went on two different adventures.The first one brought us to the first floor of the museum where the children learned how to rove cotton and wool and spin it. It is not easy, that’s for sure ! There were also big tables on which they weaved different patterns. The children had a lot of fun.
The second part of the visit brought us upstairs, in the different rooms where the factory used to be. We walked a huge empty room where the machines used to be for spinning, slashing, dyeing. Thanks to old photographs and all sorts of objects, the children were able to imagine the difficult work conditions in this factory. Even children used to work there, the youngest being 4 years old (quite a shock to our students !).
It was a very interesting visit which helped us understand the history of the industry in our state. One of the guides even spoke French which was great because we also learned some specific vocabulary in French during the visit (le filage, le tissage).
