Over the coming weeks we will be sharing previews of the talks and events taking place at this year’s Carder Steuben Glass Association Symposium.  Details on Symposium registration and hotels are further down in this issue.  We hope you’ll join us in Corning!

In his Glass of Frederick Carder, Paul V. Gardner writes that Carder “quietly arranged” for glassworkers to come from the Stourbridge district of England to America and that they were “denied admission” and deported.  The details of this venture were largely unknown.  James Measell has used contemporary newspaper coverage in Britain and the United States along with documents from the archives of the American Flint Glass Workers Union to provide the remarkable story of The Secret Plan for the Immigration of Glassworkers to Steuben.  Over several months in 1903, Frederick Carder sought to have skilled glassworkers from Stourbridge, England, come to Corning to work in the new Steuben factory.  Contemporary newspaper coverage and important letters between the officers of glassworkers’ unions reveal the full details behind this remarkable episode.  James Measell will be presenting this interesting piece of Steuben history at Symposium 2023.

Longtime glass researcher and author James Measell has written numerous books and articles on various American glass factories and aspects of glassmaking. Since retiring from university teaching in 1997, he has been employed as historian at Fenton Art Glass in Williamstown, West Virginia. During 2010-2016, his interest in glass manufacturer Harry Northwood led him to study the Stourbridge School of Art and its impact upon the local glass industry. He is an active member of several glass clubs and currently serves as a trustee of the new Stourbridge Glass Museum.   

This year’s event will take place from September 7-9, 2023 at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York.  The schedule of events, information on hotel accommodations, and the link to register can all be found on the CSGA website here. Anyone wishing to attend the Symposium is encouraged to register and make hotel reservations online soon.  Room blocks with preferred rates are reserved at nearby hotels but expire soon (details are here).

Please make your plans to attend today!