Michigan has a history rich in the art and craft of handweaving dating back to the region's settlement by indigenous peoples. During the 20th century interest in handweaving especially flourished: it was a focus of study at such schools as Cranbrook Academy of Art; Michigan native Harriet Tidball established her internationally distributed publication Shuttle Craft in Lansing; and, during the 1930s Hartland, Michigan was the third largest producer of hand woven items in the United States. The Michigan League of Handweavers (MLH) joined with the Michigan State University Museum to research, document, and collect this history and, in particular, the history of the MLH and its members.

The Michigan League of Handweavers (MLH) History Project resulted in a collection of materials dating primarily from the 1950s to the present and including handwoven garments, textiles, and handweaving ephemera, including guild histories and scrapbooks; and field notes and oral histories based on interviews with weavers, teachers, guild officers, shop owners, some of whom were charter members and presidents of MHL. Those interviewed included Peggy Adams, Susan Aaron-Taylor, Beatrice Alexander, Eunice Anders, JoAnn Bachelder, Martha Brownscombe, Jean Brudzinski, Elizabeth Clark, Helen Coats, Bill Colburn (Harriet Tidball's brother), Elizabeth Colburn (Harriet Tidball's niece), Libby Crawford, Jean Darling, Jochen Ditterich, Reade Dornan, Verda Elliott, Mollie Fletcher, Sharon Ford, Jim Gibbs (Harriet Tidball's nephew), Dotty Goodwin, Alice Griswold, June Grossbart, Betty Hagberg, Sally Helvenston, Alice Henwood, Bill Horning, Carol Isleib, Esther James, Urban Jupena, Robert Kidd, Toini Kipilla, Jeanne Kish, Gerhardt Knodel, Ruth Korzon, Karen Kunze, Jane Lackey, Elizabeth Leifer, Joyce M. Lemin, Lois Lewis, Brenda Mergen, Muriel Neeland, Peg Newport, Loretta Oliver, Nancy Peck, Sally Rose, Mary Sayler, Bernice Sizemore, Sherri Smith, Armida Stewart, Renata Taylor, Pat Williams, Margaret Windeknecht, Barbara Wittenberg, and Karen Yackell. 

Significant donations to the collections include items woven by Rosalind (Roz) Berlin and Bernice Sizemore, an 18th century wool plaid blanket, and a wool reproduction War of 1812 blanket, woven and donated by Alice and Howard Griswold, East Lansing weavers whose work has been much in demand and is included in the collections of the Smithsonian and Ellis Island. These items enrich the Museum's already existing collection of handwoven items from around the world and a growing collection of American items, including examples of linen and cotton toweling and sheeting, table cloths, runners, and wool blankets, many of which date from c. 1816-1840 and most of which are undocumented as to the maker. 

Donors/Fieldworkers:
Rosalind (Roz) Berlin, Patty Beyer, Nadine Cloutier, member from Eastside Handweavers, Marie Gile, Lestra Hazel, Karen Krause, Kris Krumanaker, Midge Lewis, Marion Marzolf, Loretta Oliver, Nancy Peck, Bernice Sizemore, Patricia Toczydlowski, Ruth Whitmyer, Margaret Windeknecht, and Karen Yackell.