Simple Gifts: Val-Kill Industries
Eleanor and her business partners founded Val-Kill industries with the intention to provide work to local farmers and craftsmen in the production of domestic goods like furniture, pewter, and fabric.
Val-Kill products were produced in the Colonial Revival style, connecting 20th century life to its historic past in simple yet elegant forms derived from the national imaginary. The emphasis on handwork, home spinning, and artisan labor uniquely expressed Eleanor’s valorization of the role of the artist in the age of the machine.
Drop Leaf Table, Val-Kill Industries, courtesy of the National Parks Service, Eleanor Roose Historic Site.
Eleanor Roosevelt in the Workshop, undated, unknown photographer. Courtesy the National Parks Service.
Fireside Bench, Val-Kill Industries, courtesy of the National Parks Service, Eleanor Roose Historic Site.
Eleanor Inspecting, undated, unknown photographer. Courtesy of the National Parks Service.
Magazine Rack, Val-Kill Industries, courtesy of the National Parks Service, Eleanor Roose Historic Site.
References
Bingham, Lisa A. The Val-Kill Industries: An Analysis of Their Founding, Context, and
Dissolution. Thesis (M.A.)--Bard Graduate Center, 2000.
Wright, Emily L. 1982. Eleanor Roosevelt and the Val-Kill Industries, 1927-1938. Thesis (M.A.)-- SUNY Oneonta, 1982.
Papers of Eleanor Roosevelt; Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.
Folder: Val-Kill Furniture (Scrapbook); Papers of Marion Dickerman; Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.