Member Profiles: Grace G. Denny 1884-1971

Grace Denny was one of the founding members of the Seattle Weavers' Guild. Miss Denny came to Seattle in 1914 to teach Home Economics at the University of Washington. (She was not related to the Denny family associated with the founding of Seattle.) While at the University she was recruited by one of the major department stores in Seattle, The Bon Marche, to write some definitions about textiles and fibers so the store's buyers would know something about their textiles. This ultimately became the book known as Fabrics which was first published in 1923 and is now in its eighth edition.

Miss Denny retired in 1950. She continued to write, lecture and travel until her death in 1971.

She wrote textile definitions for the World Book Encyclopedia and for the American College Dictionary as well as many other articles about textiles. She was the co-editor of the translation of Raoul D'Harcourt's Textiles of Ancient Peru and Their Techniques.

Among her students were Jack Lenor Larson, American textile designer, author, collector and promoter of traditional and contemporary craftsmanship, and Elsa Gudjonsson, former curator of the Icelandic National Museum.

“Fabrics” from Amazon
”Textiles of Ancient Peru and Their Techniques” from Amazon