Irene Emery

Early life and early education Irene Emery was born on February 1, 1900, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was a descent of industrialist William T. Powers on her maternal side.

Dance career After graduating from the degree program at the University of Wisconsin, Emery moved to New York City to study under Martha Graham and taught dance at the Chapin School.

In the summer 1944, she had a temporary job appointment as a "government weaver" with the goal of conserving Navajo rug and blanket weaving traditions at the Southwestern Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory in the Cibola National Forest. This role set her up for a new career path towards textile anthropology, where she observed disparity in the classification systems.

Starting in 1973 after she retired from her position at the museum, Emery created an annual workshop for academics in the field of textiles, named the Irene Emery Roundtable on Museum Textiles.

Publications