University of North Carolina at Asheville
D.H. Ramsey Library
Special Collections

Manuscript  Register
for

Biltmore Industries Archive
1901-1980

M01.08 

The original materials listed in this manuscript inventory are held at the  Grovewood Gallery, 111 Grovewood Road, Asheville, NC, 28804 and remain the property of the Grovewood Gallery, Inc. The approximate 350 PHOTOGRAPHS (366 items) reproduced in this collection are surrogates derived from the original images held by Grovewood Gallery. The virtual collection listed on this Web site is derived from the work of Jerry Ball, Grovewood Gallery, who sorted and organized the records for the Gallery and assisted in identifying the images in the photograph collection. Virtual access to this collection is made possible through a cooperative agreement with Grovewood Gallery, Inc.

All  materials in this collection  record the activity of the Biltmore Estate Industries, the Biltmore Industries, Biltmore Homespun Shops and Grovewood Gallery, Inc.,  from 1901 to the present. The collection derives almost entirely from the personal papers and correspondence of Fred L. Seely, owner and manager of the Biltmore Industries and architect and manager of the Grove Park Inn and his heirs and business associates. The total size of the manuscript collection exceeds 150 linear feet. This virtual collection represents only a small fraction of the materials found within the Biltmore Industries collections. 

A revision of the inventory of the Biltmore Industries, Inc. was completed in 2006 by Jerry and Pat Ball of Biltmore Industries, Inc.,  and is recorded in notes in the Series list for the collections.

BILTMORE INDUSTRIES ARCHIVE EXHIBIT & HISTORY Webpages were prepared in early 2002 to accompany an exhibit in the Mel Blowers Gallery of the D. H. Ramsey Library at UNCA. Many additions have been made to these original Web pages. They will continue to grow as more documents are processed and as more Web Exhibits are identified and brought online.  In addition to the exhibit web pages, several scrapbooks and albums are included in the collection. Charlotte L. Yale kept and extensive SCRAPBOOK [159 images] of historical material related to the early Biltmore Estate Industries. Yale and Vance gave their notebook to Fred Seely and it is included as an early history of the Biltmore Industries. After selling Biltmore Estate Industries to Fred Seely, Yale and Vance founded the Tryon Toy-Makers in Tryon, N.C., and their CORRESPONDENCE - TRYON TOY-MAKERS AND WEAVERS [326 items] with Seely is gathered into a virtual collection. The original Biltmore Estate Industries ALBUM  [69 images] of woodwork and woodworkers is a rich visual record of the woodworking enterprise initiated by Yale and Vance and later developed by Fred Seely as part of the early craft offered by Biltmore Industries.  The BILTMORE ESTATE INDUSTRIES [Catalog]  is derived from some images in the ALBUM but includes a broader range of furniture. The Black Scrapbook of only 7 pages, is largely advertising and The Ideal Scrapbook is a miscellaneous group of newspaper clippings and articles about the Biltmore Industries and associated activity.

RIGHTS:
UNCA is a repository for the surrogate copies of photographs and some transcribed and/or scanned documents from the Biltmore Industries files. The electronic finding aid and the associated web-pages reproduce physical items that are held at the Grovewood Gallery, Inc.. To view the original manuscript files,  photographs, objects, and video recordings that constitute the archive of the Biltmore Estate Industries, the Biltmore Industries,  and the Homespun Shops, the researcher must contact the Grovewood Gallery, Inc. directly. Any display, publication or public use of the materials must seek permission from and acknowledge the Biltmore Industries, Inc. as the holder of the original Biltmore Industries Collection and the UNCA D.H. Ramsey as the virtual repository.

Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.  

The Biltmore Estate Industries began through the efforts of Charlotte L. Yale and Eleanor P. Vance who came to Asheville and established a craft school in the Biltmore Village area. They were strongly influenced by the work of Jane Addams and the Settlement School movement of the late nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century. The efforts of the two women caught the interest and support of George and Edith Vanderbilt who were already strong supporters of mountain art and craft. They brought Eleanor P. Vance and Charlotte L. Yale to their estate in 1901 and over the next few years subsidized the development of a craft education program eventually called the Biltmore Estate Industries. The craft programs were soon moved to Biltmore Village, part of the Vanderbilt Estate and a shop was located at 10 Plaza, in the Biltmore Village.

In 1917 Fred L. Seely purchased the flourishing craft industries from Edith Vanderbilt (George had died in 1914) and he began work on a new facility for the industries. He built a series of structures next to the Grove Park Inn, a well-known lodging in north Asheville that he had constructed in 1913 at the direction of his father-in-law and owner, E.W. Grove.  A short essay entitled "Why I Purchased the Biltmore Estate Industries," written as an advertisement for the local Asheville papers, gives a first-hand account of Seely's purchase of the Industries from Edith Vanderbilt and his rationale for the purchase. 

Following Fred Seely's purchase of the Biltmore Estate Industries, the founders of the  Industries, Charlotte Yale and Eleanor Vance moved to Tryon, N.C. where they started the craft industry later became known as the Tryon Woodcarvers and Toy-Makers. Seely tried repeatedly to bring Yale and Vance back to Asheville, but was unable to return them to his new Biltmore Industries site. He, however, continued his close relationship with the two women until the late 1930's and in the later correspondence from the two women, they fondly and amusingly  refer to him as their "God-Father."

Under the direction of Fred Seely, the Biltmore Industries gained worldwide recognition for its hand-loomed fabrics and through his management, the Grove Park Inn became a sought-after tourist destination. In 1924, after trying unsuccessfully to purchase the Inn from his father-in-law, E.W. Grove, Seely left the management of the Grove Park Inn and devoted his attention to the Biltmore Homespun Shops. His diligent efforts soon produced a thriving business and his textiles were worn by many of the country's leading industrialists and political leaders. More than a cottage industry, but not an automated industry the hand-loomed woolens were sold in some of the best shops in the country and to a long list of dignataries. The years of the Great Depression brought the Industries to a near standstill as they struggled to contend with the declining economy and with government restrictions in wool trade.

In 1942 Fred Seely died and the Industries suffered a setback from which it never really recovered. Fred Seely was an inspiration to many people. He advocated for the rights of the under-privileged, for the deaf, for the disabled and for women. His support and encouragement of women is particularly remarkable. "Fred Seely's Women" is an essay and web exhibit that highlights some of his relationships with women and provides a unique picture of women's work and lives as gender became both a political and a social focus following the passage of the 19th Amendment.

Following Fred L. Seely's death in 1942, the Industries were managed briefly by his son, Fred Seely, Jr. but the business continued its decline in the face of a rapidly automating textile industry. An attempt to resurrect the Biltmore Industries was made by local businessman, Harry Blomberg who purchased the business from the Seely family in 1955. Under Blomberg the weaving industry was briefly revitalized and again employed many local individuals in all aspects of the weaving business. In 1980 all production of the Biltmore Industries ceased and in 1991 Harry Blomberg died and Biltmore Industries also ended its long history. The Biltmore Industries history and physical files were incorporated into the Grovewood Gallery, Inc. enterprise started by the Blomberg family as a separate foundation and now owned by the Blomberg heirs. Today the files and history of the once thriving industry reside in the original buildings of the Industries. A small museum is located on the grounds of the Grovewood Gallery, Inc.,  and it provides an excellent overview of the activity of Biltmore Industries from the period of the Yale and Vance management through Blomberg's ownership. Included in the exhibits are many of the artifacts from the active years of the Industry. Maintained by volunteers, Jerry and Pat Ball, the museum displays archival material, photographs, a short film, wool samples, examples of weaving, and a working loom. These remnants of the Biltmore Industries help to recall the once vital craft and the remarkable individuals who were touched by Fred Seely's genius.  

CHRONOLOGY [Biltmore Industries, Inc.]