Katherine Alden: A Master of Crafts

A descendent of Mayflower cooper and 1620 Plymouth Colony settler John Alden, Katharine Leavitt Alden was born in Ashmont, Massachusetts in 1893. She grew up influenced by the American Arts and Crafts movement and studied at the Normal Art School, today the Massachusetts College of Art. She became a master weaver honored by the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts in the 1920s. 

Alden’s life was dedicated to fine craftsmanship in several arts, but she is best known for her skill in teaching others how to fashion functional, beautiful, historically-inspired pieces of pottery.

How does a weaver become a potter? In a newspaper article Alden told the reporter:

“A friend of mine was studying at the Paul Revere School of Pottery . . . and wanted company, so I went along. After that I just kept up with it, I guess.” 

And indeed she did. In 1932, Alden was invited by the Old Colony Trust to come to Plymouth, where she moved into the Richard Sparrow House to teach weaving. That venture was not successful, and under state sponsorship, Alden decided to revitalize an earlier pottery industry using local clay. In 1936, she founded the Plymouth Pottery Guild. After twenty-five years, the State removed its funding and Alden went out on her own, buying Sparrow House and setting up a kiln down by the brook, a workshop, and gift shop.

Alden was a woman of many talents. Leonard Sealey, a Past President of the Board of Directors for Richard Sparrow House, wrote in 1990:

“The quality and range of Katharine Alden’s work in a variety of media is remarkable. Her stature as a person was no less outstanding. She expected much of others, but gave everything of herself.” 

Katharine Alden touched many lives, and through her teaching hundreds of students learned not only the techniques but the joy of making pottery.