Sarah Noggle
~ story and photos by Bob Gustin
Textile Conservator
“ When you handle an old textile, you learn a lot about how it was done …. A lot of handwork is logical. It’ s lasted that long because someone thought it out. It’ s logical and it made sense.”
Picture this: It’ s 1861, and soon-to-be President Abraham Lincoln is making his way through rural Illinois in a horse-drawn buggy. He’ s headed to Springfield, Illinois, where he’ ll catch a train to Washington, D. C.
In some little settlement along the way, ladies of the town come out to greet him, and present a handspun, handwoven 34-star American flag to him.( Kansas was admitted to the union earlier that year.) But it’ s a rough road, and Honest Abe folds the flag and sits on it to cushion the ride.
Sarah Noggle knows it’ s possible that story may not be true.
But it’ s the story that was told to Lincoln College officials in Lincoln, Illinois, when they accepted the old flag for their collection, though the 34-star flag was not officially adopted until July 4 of that year. It was, in any case, the flag of the Lincoln presidency, whether he actually sat on it or not. No other president served while the 34-star flag was flown.
That flag was one of the projects Sarah took on as a textile conservator, making repairs so that it can be properly displayed.
In the world of historic textiles, there are three levels: preservation, which seeks to prevent further damage to a piece of cloth; conservation, which makes repairs necessary to make the piece visually appealing; and restoration, restoring the piece to as close as possible to its original condition.
Sarah, a Brown County weaver and textile artist, has worked for 14 years as a fabric conservationist for museums, universities, and public and private collections.
36 Our Brown County • Nov./ Dec. 2020