October 5, 2020
Curator Adamson (Fewer, Better Things) puts artisans and their craftworks at the center of the American story in this erudite and immersive account. Defining craft rather broadly (“whenever a skilled person makes something using their hands, that’s craft”), Adamson covers roughly four centuries of history, from the German and Polish craftsmen sent to train unskilled colonists at Jamestown to contemporary “maker spaces” and 3D printers. He highlights the work of female, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian-American craftspeople, including Gullah basket weaver Lottie Moultrie Swinton and Dave the Potter, a South Carolina slave who etched short verses into the clay vessels he made, and argues that in today’s atmosphere of deep polarization, craft can help bridge social divisions by providing common grounds for mutual respect. Adamson also notes links between craftmaking and the “utopian impulse” in America (Shaker furniture, Amish quilts), critiques the “top-down” structure of the Arts and Crafts movement in the U.S., and dissects Martha Stewart’s “positioning craft achievement as an ever-receding horizon” to be sought but never attained. With lucid prose and exemplary research, Adamson brings intriguing new details and unusual perspectives to even the most familiar story lines. The result is an elegant, detailed, and functional history worthy of its subject.
October 15, 2020
This is a history of America, narrated chronologically from colonization through the present day, told through the lens of craft. In some ways, it's a familiar story of individualism, ingenuity, and labor. Benjamin Franklin, Eli Whitney, and Frederick Douglass all make appearances. But so, too, do less well known figures like Shaker clockmaker Isaac Newton Youngs, Black furniture maker Henry Boyd, and Pueblo potters Maria and Julian Martinez. In long and roving chapters, Adamson (The Invention of Craft, 2013; Fewer, Better Things, 2018) uses their experiences to narrate plainly how America was built, who made it, and the stories the nation tells about itself. Adamson is a curator and some of the book's most lively moments come when he is describing an object?Gullah sweetgrass baskets, a silver punch bowl with inset diamond pattern made to imitate corrugated Puebloan pottery. From enslaved craftspeople inciting rebellion to the ubiquity of the postwar amateur craft craze, from wampum to studio pottery, this is a celebratory history of craft's potential to liberate America from its racism, xenophobia, and sexism.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)
December 1, 2020
Craft was there from the beginning. The first European settlers in the United States depended on craft skills to keep them alive, fed, and clothed. Adamson (Head of Graduate Studies, Victoria & Albert Museum; The Craft Reader) shows how, during the American Revolution, Paul Revere and Ben Franklin were "professional artisans" who practiced craft for the beautification of daily life. This narrative continues to the modern era, with an exploration of Martha Stewart's crafting empire. Whether traditional skills or modern iterations like 3D printing, crafting has defined identity, politics, and livelihood throughout American history. It has even courted controversy when utilized as a tool for the oppressed or to promote social reform. Adamson seeks to unite the disparate published works on American craft into one comprehensive volume. Starting with the first colonists to the present decade, he profiles people of note, significant movements, and museums that would come to hold craft collections. He also considers how craft has been used to uphold utopian communities, and their values of virtue and control. VERDICT The history of craft is framed as the history of America in a dense compendium. A comprehensive volume perfect for academic use or ambitious novice readers.--Jessica Bushore, Xenia, OH
Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from October 15, 2020
A rich chronicle of craft in America from Jamestown to the present day. In his latest book on craft, historian and curator Adamson displays his vast knowledge of crafts, artisans, and political and business figures who have helped or hindered craft's advancement. He notes the evolution from craft-as-survival to its current status as a much smaller--but significant--part of our overall economy. He also sees its potential as a way to begin to reunite a divided country. (The author has a couple of harsh comments for Donald Trump, at one point calling him a "farcical blowhard.") Adamson leads us on a chronological journey through American history, pointing out along the way--sometimes in lush detail--the various craft movements and ideas that were prominent at certain times. The text swarms with interesting anecdotes and names--some well-known (Benjamin Franklin, Henry David Thoreau, Martha Stewart) and others who will be less familiar to most readers: James Pembroke, the first Black man to attend classes at Yale; Candace Wheeler, one of America's first interior designers, who "realized what many of her fellow craft reformers did not: that beauty and practicality did not always go together, and were often in conflict"; and Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts. Throughout the narrative, the author displays a sensible sensitivity to various cultural, racial, and gender issues that remain with us--from the brutal treatment of Native peoples and African Americans to the denial of equal labor rights (and salaries) to women. Adamson also corrects some myths, noting that there's no real evidence that Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag: "The thing everyone knows about her...turns out to be uncertain at best, and perhaps an invention from whole cloth, put about by over-enthusiastic descendants." The author offers welcome details about such topics as repressive schools for American Indians (e.g., Carlisle Indian School) and Rosie the Riveter. Thoroughly researched and written with passion--and a bit of bite.
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