“The Woman Who Ran Things"
That's what the moun¬
tain folk called Fran¬
ces Goodrich, who
established a unique
industry in the Appa¬
lachians. and brought
financial help to thou¬
sands of people.
Almost fifty years before her death
in 1944. Frances Louisa Goodrich
conceived the idea of encouraging,
perpetuating, and preserving for pos¬
terity the ingenuously beautiful crafts¬
manship embodied in the frequently
primitive accomplishments of North
Carolina's mountain dwellers, and her
efforts resulted in the formation of a
unique industry.
That achievement, which doubtless
has brought much-needed economic
stability or financial security to hun¬
dreds, and perhaps thousands, will be
commemorated again this year when
the Craftsman's Fair of the Southern
Highlands is held at Asheville on July
10. 11 and 12.
Although born in New York State,
this outstanding personage spent al¬
most fifty-five of her eighty-seven
years in the ruggedly beautiful west¬
ern areas of this state, becoming a
widely acknowledged artist and crafts¬
man. and earning the title of "The
Woman Who Runs Things.”
Л
Friend in Need
In addition to pioneering in moun¬
tain handicrafts. Miss Goodrich was
teacher, civic and welfare worker,
home missionary, militant and suc¬
cessful advocate of better health facili¬
ties. nurse and companion, and friend
in need to innumerable folks of the
foothills.
She also found time to write an in¬
teresting and informative book, as well
as many incidental pamphlets about
her work and experiences. Mountain
Homespun, written in 1931 and pub¬
lished by the Yale University Press,
l has long been considered an epic of its
type. In this volume she said:
"This is the record of a generation
that has gone. The homespun world of
which it tells has vanished. You will
not find Lonesome Creek though you
hunt for it. A few of us, to whom it is
dear, hold it still in our hearts, and to
us it is living."
Purposes of Program
For more than a generation prior to
her death. Miss Goodrich had the sat¬
isfaction of witnessing concrete realiza¬
tion of her arts and crafts program for
residents of the Southern Appalachian
sections. She outlined that program in
the following words:
"To bring money to communities
far from markets, and to give paying
work to women in homes too isolated
to permit them to find it for them¬
selves; to give to these women a new
interest, the pleasure of producing
beautiful things, the delight of the
skilled worker and artist; of feeling
themselves sharers in the work of the
world; to save from extinction the old-
time crafts, while producing things of
value and beauty."
Daughter of a Presbyterian minister,
Frances Goodrieh was bom in Bing¬
hamton, N. Y., on September 15,
1856, but. according to Lou Rogers,
in her book. Tar Heel Women, chose
North Carolina "for her own. and for
more than fifty years she let her light
shine in such a way that she caused
other gems to be discovered. . . . She
wanted to work and create, encourage
and inspire, to appreciate and uplift
the plain people of the mountain ham¬
lets."
Two Years in Furopc
After graduating from a school for
young ladies, at the age of 16. Miss
Goodrich and other members of her
family accompanied her father to
France, where she spent two years.
Upon her return to America, she
studied art at Yale University, and
under the tutelage of a famous New
York artist.
Soon, however, she came to North
Carolina as a representative of the Pres¬
byterian Church's mission board, set¬
tling at Riccvillc, near Asheville, as
companion to an ill, discouraged and
lonely teacher. And a few years later.
Miss Goodrich began the crusade
among the mountain people which was
to bring her nationwide fame.
It was through the efforts of Miss
Goodrich that the Laurel Hospital was
established at White Rock during her
service with the mission board. Mov¬
ing to Asheville, where her mother
( Continued on page 24)
THE STATE, June 30, 195t
