The ShuttleSmith’s research on Anne Orr
originally posted Feb 20, 2013, 2:01 PM by Karen Bovard [ updated May 23, 2013, 9:15 AM]
Yesterday, I received a wonderful package from Mary McCarthy in the mail. After my initial blog post about my new section on Split Ring Tatting History and Anne Orr, Mary contacted me and said she had done some research for a 2005 seminar she gave on Anne Orr and her ‘Reverse Stitch’ at the ShuttleBirds Workshop. She too had done up the SRT patterns from the two 1923 books of Anne Orr. What she did have that I hadn’t found was photos (2) of Anne Orr! What delight to actually see what Anne looked like!
Today I went back to the web to do some more research. In my web research, I have seen Anne Orr’s birthyear as both 1869 and 1875 and her death year as both 1946 and 1947.
I actually found a geneology website that featured her. http://latrobefamily.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I7568&tree=mytree
According this website, Anne Orr:
-Was born ‘Anne Claiborne Champe’ on April 17, 1869 in Nashville, TN.
-Married John Hunter Orr December 12, 1894 at the age of 25.
-Had one daughter, Anne Champe Orr, born August 2, 1899.
-Died October 26, 1947 in Nashville, TN at the age of 78.
Anne Orr is important historically to other artforms other than tatting.
- She contributed extensively to crochet (see: http://crochetinsider.com/article/reclaiming-crochet-and-its-american-history) as well as needlework (embroidery) with her designs and iron-on transfers.
- She has been praised, adored, researched and quoted by the quilt world. In 1980 Anne Orr was inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, IN. In looking through web stuff in regard to Anne Orr and quilting, one historian keeps coming forward–Marikay Waldvogel.
Another thing that Mary McCarthy sent to me (which I hadn’t found myself) was a reprint of the May, 1977 issue of Quilter’s Newletter Magazine. This article had one of the two photos of Anne Orr that Mary McCarthy made me aware of. In the article titled ‘Anne Orr–She Captured Beauty’, Anne Orr is spotlighted for her contribution to the quilting world.