Wikipedia

Osma Gallinger Tod

Lucy Osma Palmer Gallinger Tod (January 18, 1895 – January 10, 1983) was an American artist, writer, and arts educator, specializing in weaving, basketry, and other craft techniques.

Osma Gallinger Tod
An older white woman, gaze cast downward
Osma Gallinger Tod, from a 1949 newspaper
Born
Lucy Osma Palmer

January 18, 1895
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedJanuary 10, 1983(1983-01-10) (aged 87)
Centerville, Massachusetts, U.S.
Other namesOsma P. Crouch, Osma Gallinger, Osma Tod
Occupation(s)Artist, art educator, writer
ChildrenJosephine Del Deo

Early life

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Lucy Osma Palmer was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of William E. Palmer and Alice Cornelia Hoyt Palmer. Her father was a clergyman. She studied piano[1] and graduated from Wellesley College.[2][3][4]

Career

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During World War II, Gallinger and her second husband ran a weaving studio and loom factory in Guernsey, Pennsylvania, near Gettysburg. One of their products was a loom for bed use, intended to be used by convalescent soldiers as occupational therapy.[5] They also launched a home-weaving program in Michigan.[6][7] She was head of the National Conference of American Handweavers for twenty years.[8][9][10] In the 1960s and 1970s she taught at her weaving studio in Coral Gables, Florida.[11][12][13] The Coral Gables Library and the Weavers Guild of South Florida held a retrospective show of Tod's work in 1981.[3]

Books by Tod included Basket Pioneering (1933, with Daniel Carter Beard),[14][15] Earth Basketry (1933),[16] Embroidery in Wools (1933),[17] The Game of Weaving (1938, with Constance Darrow and Dorothy McCloud),[18] Joys of Handweaving (1944),[19] Rug Weaving for Everyone (1952),[20] Designing and Making Handwoven Rugs (1957),[21] Bobbin Lace: Step-by-Step (1969),[22] Household Baskets (1970),[23] Basketry: A Popular Handbook, Wool Stitchery,[24] Manual of Helpful Hints for Handweavers (1974), and Weaving with Reeds and Fibers (1975, with Oscar H. Benson).[25] She also edited a magazine about weaving, Shuttle Service, wrote hundreds of articles for magazines, and ran a correspondence course on weaving.[26] "It's like math," she explained of weaving's comforts. "Right is right and wrong is wrong. If you make a mistake, take it out, don't cover it up."[3]

Artist Dorothy Gill Barnes described Osma Gallinger Tod as a helpful influence.[27]

Personal life

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Osma Palmer married three times; her first husband was fellow artist Frank Byron Couch. They married in 1924, and had a daughter, Josephine (later writer and preservationist Josephine Del Deo, 1925–2016); he died in 1928. Her second husband was loombuilder Milo Oliver Gallinger; he died in 1956.[28] Her third husband was engineer James Tod; they married in 1960, and he died in 1969.[6][29] "Each time I was widowed it was my art that saved me", she recalled in 1981. "When you are passionately in love and that love is lost, you have to do something to close the gap."[3] Osma Gallinger Tod died in 1983, in Centerville, Massachusetts, aged 87 years.[30] Her papers are held in the Archives of American Art.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Recital Given in Montclair by Miss Osma Palmer Was Another Great Success". Perth Amboy Evening News. 1914-04-09. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Wellesley, '16, Elects". The Boston Globe. 1913-10-16. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d Moss, Bea (1981-01-11). "Turn, Turn, Turn: Lifelong Weaver Busy". The Miami Herald. p. 334. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Osma Tod, 87, Weaving Expert, Lived in Gables". The Miami Herald. 1983-01-25. p. 139. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  5. ^ "Transformed Country Club at Guernsey Now Houses Weaving Factory". The Gettysburg Times. 1943-10-06. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b Reno, Doris (1962-07-29). "Lifetime of Pleasure Looms". The Miami Herald. p. 131. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Cromaine Crafts Demonstration at Battle Creek". Livingston County Daily Press and Argus. 1938-04-13. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Osma Gallinger Tod papers, 1927-1986". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  9. ^ "About the Pictures". Statesman Journal. 1947-08-24. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Weavers Hold Open Meeting This Evening". The Gettysburg Times. 1948-08-23. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Reno, Doris (1967-12-05). "Bringing Back the Art of Lacemaking". The Miami Herald. p. 39. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Wells, Helen (1961-02-07). "Mrs. Tod's Advice: Weave Worries Away". The Miami Herald. p. 49. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Sudnow, Naomi (1963-09-20). "Hobby Woven into Career". The Miami News. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger; Beard, Daniel Carter (1933). Basket pioneering: a popular hand-book containing concise basketry directions with clear simple diagrams -- designed for the beginner as well as the more experienced basket weaver. New York: Orange Judd Pub. Co. OCLC 3409776.
  15. ^ "Creating the Creative Urge in Children". The Baltimore Sun. 1934-04-29. p. 62. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger (1972). Earth basketry; a popular hand-book containing concise basketry directions with clear simple diagrams - designed for the beginner as well as the more experienced basket weaver. New York: Bonanza Books. OCLC 911311.
  17. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger (1933). Embroidery in wools. New York: I. Pitman & Sons. OCLC 1834611.
  18. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger; McCloud, Dorothy; Darrow, Constance (1938). The game of weaving: with first lessons in the craft. Scranton: International Textbook Co. OCLC 3635034.
  19. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger (1977). The joy of hand weaving. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-23458-8. OCLC 3150669.
  20. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger; Del Deo, Josephine Couch (1957). Rug weaving for everyone. Milwaukee: Bruce Pub. Co. OCLC 2322386.
  21. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger (1957). Designing and making handwoven rugs: Techniques for creating European, oriental, and American rugs, and household fabrics. Josephine Couch Del Deo. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-23391-X. OCLC 2644129.
  22. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger (1969). Bobbin Lace: Step by Step. With Torchon Lace Patterns from the Marquerite Brooks Folios. Tod Studio.
  23. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger (1970). Household Baskets.
  24. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger. Wool stitchery. New York: Gramercy Pub. Co. OCLC 816150.
  25. ^ Tod, Osma Gallinger; Benson, O. H (1975). Weaving with reeds and fibers. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-23143-3. OCLC 1272525.
  26. ^ "Expert Gives Pat of Encouragement to Local Weavers". The Daily Oklahoman. 1949-04-01. p. 17. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Oral history interview with Dorothy Gill Barnes, 2003 May 2-7". Archives of American Art. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  28. ^ "M. O. Gallinger Dies Friday in Hospital". New Oxford Item. 1956-05-03. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Werne, Jo (1971-11-30). "Life and Creativity Loom for the Weaver". The Miami Herald. p. 39. Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "OBITUARY; Osma Gallinger Tod, 87, Dies; Writer and Expert on Weaving". The New York Times. 1983-01-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
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