Arthur D. Jenkins Library
This non-circulating research library features thousands of hard-to-find resources on global textiles and traditional dress. Resources are multilingual and cover artistic, cultural, historical and technical information. While visiting, you can access serials, rare books, monographs, auction catalogs, ephemera and films. We also hold the personal archives of important textile scholars including Irene Emery and Charles Grant Ellis.
Plan a Visit
During the academic year, the library welcomes walk-in visitors Tuesday through Friday from 1 to 4 p.m. and by appointment. In the summer (May 15-August 15), the library is open Thursdays and Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m. Email our librarian at museumlibrary
gwu [dot] edu (museumlibrary[at]gwu[dot]edu) for research assistance or to schedule a visit.
Archival Collections
The library collection contains archival materials donated to the museum by significant textile scholars, as well as institutional archives related to the history of The Textile Museum Collection. To request access to one of these collections, download the guidelines and form for archives access (PDF).
- Mehmet Aga-Oglu
Mehmet Aga-Oglu (1896-1949) was an Islamic art expert who founded the journal Ars Islamica. He was a consultant for The Textile Museum from 1948 to 1949 and specialized in Caucasian rugs. Aga-Oglu Inventory (PDF)
- Klavdiya Antipina
Klavdiya Antipina (1904-1996) was an ethnographer of the nomadic Kyrgyz people of Central Asia during the Soviet period. She wrote two books on their rug weaving practices.
- Calico Printers’ Association
Records This archive (c. 1899-1968) includes hand-painted renderings of Japanese weavings from the 14th to 18th centuries, created as references for British designers.
- Earthwatch Ecuador
Researchers performing fieldwork for the Earthwatch Ecuador project (1988-89) documented the traditional textile practices of Indigenous Ecuadorians, as well as their styles of dress. The archive includes the researchers' field notes, photographs and videos. Earthwatch Ecuador Inventory (PDF)
- Charles Grant Ellis
Charles Grant Ellis (1908-1996) was a research associate at The Textile Museum and a leading 20th-century scholar of oriental carpets. He authored the museum's 1975 publication Early Caucasian Rugs. Ellis Inventory (XLS)
- Irene Emery
Irene Emery (1900-1981) was a pioneering textile scholar best known for her seminal 1966 publication The Primary Structures of Fabrics: An Illustrated Classification.
- Mattiebelle Gittinger
Mattiebelle Gittinger (1932-2023) was a research associate at The Textile Museum and a leading scholar in the field of Southeast Asian textiles. Her archive contains extensive fieldwork on textiles from Southeast Asia and beyond. Gittinger Finding Aid
- George Hewitt Myers
Collector and connoisseur George Hewitt Myers (1875-1957) founded The Textile Museum in 1925. His archive contains invaluable provenance information for the museum collection, as well as his correspondence.
- Sarah B. Sherrill
Sarah Sherrill is a retired professor of the Bard Graduate Center where she taught courses on textiles. Her archive is the culmination of her years of work studying the textile traditions of the nomadic Qashqa’i and Bakhtiari people. Sherrill Finding Aid (PDF)
- Textile Museum Audiovisual
Materials The digitized cassette and VHS tapes in this archive (1960s-2000s) relate to past museum programs and events.
To learn more about the library's collecting strategy, download its collections policy (PDF).
Textile Research Day
Hosted by the library, this annual spring event brings together emerging local scholars to share their research on textiles with professionals and the public. Topics span the fields of decorative arts, art history and museum studies, and include research on the museum collections, fashion, costume, conservation, dye analysis, sustainability and more. Join in person at the museum or watch the livestream online. Learn more about Textile Research Day
Students, recent graduates and emerging researchers who are interested in presenting are invited to email our librarian at museumlibrarygwu [dot] edu (museumlibrary[at]gwu[dot]edu).
