Join us for a tour of Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA.  This recreated 1830’s rural New England village has forty historical buildings with costumed historians recreating daily life in early 19th Century New England.  In addition to seeing the blacksmith, potter, cabinetmaker and printer at work, visitors will see how textiles were processed from raw materials to finished clothing.  The four-hundred-acre village is filled with period gardens, and cattle, sheep, pigs and other farm animals.  Our tour will also include access to behind the scenes history related to textiles and dyeing. 

 

We will depart from Worcester State University Student Center at 9:30 a.m. and arrive at Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) at 10:00 AM via bus.  Upon arrival our tour will be split into two or three groups which will rotate between visiting the grounds, a textile program and an herb garden tour.   The curatorial program with the Curator of Textiles and the Collections Manager will explore a portion of the weaving tools, original drafts, and woven objections that are held in the OSV Museum collections.   The Herb Garden Tour with a member of the horticultural staff will demonstrate the wide variety of dye plants that were used and how to cultivate them. There will be drop-in spinning, dyeing and weaving demonstrations throughout the day and participants will have ample time on their own to explore the village grounds.  A boxed lunch will be provided by the OSV Tavern.  At the end of the afternoon, we will depart the village at 3:00 PM and return to Worcester State University Student Center by 3:30 PM.