Renowned Textile Scholar Rabbit Goody to Speak at The Sharon Historical Society

SHARON— The Sharon Historical Society is pleased to welcome renowned textile historian and scholar Rabbit Goody, owner, director, and designer of Thistle Hill Weavers, for a special presentation on April 13 at 7:00 PM as part of its Historical Lecture Series.

Rabbit Goody will present, “Woven Into History: How Cloth, Craft, and Careful

Research Bring the Past to Life”. The program will be held in person at the Sharon Public Library Community Room and will also be offered live via Zoom for those who do not live in the immediate area. This event is part of the Sharon Historical Society’s ongoing Historical Lecture Series.

For more than three decades, Goody has been one of the nation’s foremost experts in historically accurate textiles. Founded in 1989 in Cherry Valley, New York, Thistle Hill Weavers is a custom mill that produces short runs of meticulously researched reproduction fabrics, trim, and carpets. What sets the mill apart is Goody’s rare ability to faithfully replicate the weave, texture, weight, and color of historic fabrics—down to the smallest detail.

If you have watched period films or television series over the past 25 years, you have likely seen her work. Thistle Hill fabrics have appeared in major productions including Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Master and Commander, Amistad, Titanic, Cinderella Man, The Polar Express, Lincoln, John Adams, The Gilded Age, and many others. Goody’s textiles have also been commissioned by historic sites such as Mount Vernon, Plimoth Patuxet Museums, Monticello, and the Emily Dickinson House.

Located in a converted mill building outside Cherry Valley, Thistle Hill Weavers houses nine mechanized American shuttle looms dating from the 1890s through the 1960s. When running, their rhythmic motion fills the building. Goody has spent decades rescuing historic textile machinery from closing mills across the country, restoring and maintaining equipment that might otherwise have been scrapped.

A scholar as well as a craftswoman, Goody holds a degree in cultural anthropology and ethnomusicology from Bennington College and previously served as head of the domestic arts program and curator of textiles at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown. She founded the Textile History Forum, an annual gathering of researchers, museum professionals, and scholars dedicated to the study of historic textiles.

Her work for film productions is grounded in both scholarship and technical mastery. For Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, Goody recreated Abraham Lincoln’s shawl based on careful study of the original garment held by the Smithsonian. Costume designers rely on her not only for visual authenticity but also for the correct weight and movement of fabrics—details that help actors embody their roles.

Despite international recognition, Goody remains rooted in Cherry Valley, where she continues to train her team, design fabrics, maintain century-old machinery, and oversee a bustling operation that is busier than ever. Rabbit remains deeply committed to her trade. “I don’t see any reason to retire,” she has said. “I love what I do.”

The April 13th lecture will explore the history, craft, and technology of textile production and the remarkable journey of Thistle Hill Weavers - offering insight into how careful research and traditional techniques allow historic textiles to be recreated with extraordinary authenticity.

Reservations are required to attend the presentation either in person or via Zoom and can be made online by visiting the Sharon Historical Website at www.sharonhistoricalsocietyny.org. For more information, contact the Sharon Historical Society by email at sharonhistoricalsocietyny@gmail.com or by calling (518) 860-5513.