Postcard from Mary Crovatt Hambidge to Margaret Croft

Postcard sent to Margaret Croft by Mary Crovatt Hambidge. Mary updates her on life at the Hambidge Center and asks if Margaret knows Philbrick Crouch, then director of the Nashville Children's Museum. In 1964, Margaret and Elise willed their land to the Children's Museum to be used as a nature center after their deaths.

Mary Crovatt (1885-1973), a former model and singer from Georgia, ventured to Greece with artist Jay Hambidge (1867-1924) in 1919, and it was there that she started working with textiles and weaving. She later took Jay's last name, even though the two never married. In 1934, Mary started the Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, GA, a retreat and sustainable farm based on her ideas about Jay's concept of "dynamic symmetry," and the relationship between nature and creativity. From the beginning, Mary worked with local women on weaving projects to display in exhibits around the country, and opened a shop in New York City for their wares. The Hambidge Center still exists today as a retreat and community for artists and craftspeople. Margaret Croft was a frequent visitor to the Hambidge Center, learning to weave there and cultivating a friendship with Hambidge herself.