Gertrude Whiting

Gertrude Whiting (1882–1951) was the founder of the Needle and Bobbin Club in New York City. Whiting was an expert in lace making and taught the art to women in rural India. She was a fellow of the British Royal Society of Arts She was introduced to lace by her aunt at a young age. She attended the Rye Seminary and graduated from Hollins University. in 1916.

Whiting's personal collections consisted of lace and bobbins, including:In her collection of 400 bobbins are several once used by Jean Jacques Rousseau, whose skill at lace-making was an expression of an artistic endowment, which was better known through his literary work. As a lacemaker, Whiting compiled an early catalog of the various stitches used in typical bobbin lace patterns, which also displayed various regional styles of lace bobbins. Her original sampler can be found in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and reproductions of the sampler were included in a pocket of the guide book she published.

Whiting was invited by an examiner from the Indian Department of Education and Industry to advise in the country's economic development of lace making. She re-introduced lace making to women in rural India. The Whiting India Guilds continued to exist until 1965. In 1940, Whiting was honored for her work by becoming a fellow of the British Royal Society of Arts.

Whiting, Gertrude (ed.) (1935) La Révolte des Passemens. The Needle and Bobbin Club, New York.