In 2004 Ute Bargmann, a member of the Early Weaving Books and Manuscripts group of Complex Weavers, came across the pattern book, “Patterns for Weaving Counterpanes, 1862-1865,” in the Center for American History’s online exhibit “The Story of Winedale.” The pattern book, from the Lena Dancy Ledbetter Papers at the Center for American History, contains Ledbetter’s notations. Bargmann ordered a photocopy of the book and brought it to the attention of her organization.
This attention resulted in the Handweavers Guild of America featuring the pattern book at their meeting during the May 2005 Historical Manuscripts Conference in Clayton, New York. The Early Weaving Books and Manuscripts group presented a session entitled “Bavarian Yankee Intruder in Southern Threads: Contemplations of the Dancy Plantation Manuscript on Counterpanes,” about the “discovery” of the manuscript in an online exhibit. Furthermore, Bargmann wove 22 samples from the pattern book.
From the guide to the Lena Dancy Ledbetter Counterpane Sample Collection 2004-087; 2005-174; 2006-099., 2005, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
