Most of the items on display here are from an exhibition curated by Meriam Lobel in 2001 titled, “The Cultural Thread: 130 years of Embroidery and Lace in New Jersey” which was on display at the Park Performing Arts Center in Union City, NJ. This exhibit proactively connected with the local community to document and preserve the history of the embroidery and lace industry in Northern New Jersey area, and we are grateful to have the artifacts and documentation now preserved in the Samuel C. Williams Library Archives & Special Collections department at Stevens Institute of Technology.
This pop-up exhibition was created with the support and collaboration of the Hoboken Business Alliance.
Since 1872, Northern New Jersey was referred to as the “Embroidery Capital of the World.” The art of embroidery and lace was first brought over to the North Hudson area of New Jersey by Swiss immigrants from the St. Gallen region in the 19th century. When the Schiffli embroidery machine was invented by Isaak Gröbli in Switzerland in 1863 it helped automate the work and established embroidery and lace shops in the area. In fact, Northern New Jersey became a prime spot for this industry because these large machines needed the solid bedrock of the Palisades to anchor the five- to eight-ton machines and keep the embroidery needles from vibrating. In addition, the proximity to the very productive garment district in New York City and the Hudson River for transporting the goods was ideal.
Close to 90% of all embroidery in America was created in Northern New Jersey during its heyday, between the 1940s and 1980s, but by 1996, that percentage dropped by 70%. The embroidery industry was one of the biggest industries in America in terms of small businesses, and in Hudson County, New Jersey it employed thousands of local workers and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. When it started to become harder to compete with cheaper labor and manufacturers with more modern machinery overseas in the early 2000s, it was a great loss to the local community, and many shops had to close.
Today, the industry has almost entirely disappeared from the area, but the history of this industry is preserved in the Archives & Special Collections department of the Samuel C. Williams Library at Stevens Institute of Technology.
Embroidery and lace have been utilized in traditional and modern communities for centuries. Local textile patterns, organizational symbols, and designs use embroidery to help identify local communities and groups. Embroidery and lace document a tradition and craftsmanship that has been passed down for many generations, and in Northern New Jersey a local workforce which included predominantly immigrant communities had created and sustained the embroidery and lace industry in this area for decades.
The first wave of immigrants was mainly Swiss and German, then followed by Eastern European immigrants. In the 1950s Cuban immigrants were prominent in the industry when the area was known as “Havana on the Hudson.” By the 1980s most of the immigrant workforce was from Latin America. The art and importance of embroidery and lace connect many cultural groups in America, and it is important to document personal experiences and cultural traditions to ensure future generations can engage with and understand the past.
The Library Archives & Special Collections actively collects and preserves historical artifacts and materials to help tell the stories of those who came before us. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the embroidery and lace industries in Northern New Jersey, we welcome you to make a research appointment with us.
