Dynamo Dot

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

African American History And Culture, American History, Exhibits, Dc, History, Science, Sidedoor, History Of The World, Society & Culture, The Smithsonian, Washington, Natural History, Pop Culture, Smithsonian, Exhibit, Tony Cohn, Zoo, National Museum, Air And Space, National Zoo, Art19, Museum, Postal Museum

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dorothy Liebes was a whirlwind in the weaving world. Throughout the 1930s, she spun luxury fabrics so bold and colorful that their style could only be described as the "Liebes Look." But when the United States entered World War II, she wondered how an artist like herself could be helpful at a time when “there would be no need for luxuries.” What she didn’t know was that wartime would bring an opportunity to put her weaving skills to work in an entirely new way. Joining forces with the American Red Cross, she brought professional artists to the bedsides of wounded soldiers - with results that surpassed Dynamo Dot's wildest expectations.

Guests:

Alexa Griffith, manager of content and curriculum at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum

Susan Brown, acting head of textiles at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX, I'm Lizzie Peabody.
0:23.9	Dorothy Leibis was sitting in her suite at the Gotham Hotel in New York City.
0:28.6	She was December 1941 and she was folding brightly colored fabrics onto display racks
0:34.8	when the telephone rang.
0:36.5	It was Francis Elkins calling from the St. Regis across the street.
0:40.4	She sounded breathless.
0:41.9	Have you heard the news she asked?
0:43.9	This is an actor reading from Leibis's unpublished memoir found in the Smithsonian's archives
0:48.2	of American art.
0:49.9	The Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor, she said, we are at war.
0:54.9	When she rang off, I rushed to the radio.
0:57.5	The announcer's voice is more frenetic than usual, came blasting in from every point on the
1:02.1	dial.
1:03.1	This is John Dele speaking from the CBS Newsroom in New York.
1:07.1	Yes, I'm watching this.
1:08.1	A white house announces Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
1:11.6	Snake air attack.
1:12.6	No official reports yet on casualties or damage.
1:15.3	A second air attack has been reported.
1:17.4	Washington stunned.
1:19.0	We return you now to New York and we'll give you later in the evening.
1:24.8	We went to the window.
	...

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