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When shaking hands with a journeyman blacksmith, one anticipates a firm grasp. When the blacksmith is a young woman, the strength comes as a surprise. Montross native Aislinn Lewis wields a hammer that raises more than a few visitors’ eyebrows to Colonial Williamsburg’s Anderson’s Blacksmith Shop & Public Armoury. With preconceived notions of a toiling brawny male, Aislinn dressed in a fitted 18th century English linen gown, cap, and a leather apron imparts a feminine flair and spawns flurries of questions.
In fact, history documents that a few women in Europe were actually granted entry into the blacksmith guilds as far back as the 14th century. An able body, regardless of sex, was a valued worker and women were granted entry to the trade through paternity, marriage, or apprenticeship, although they made up less than five percent of their male counterparts.
Woodcuts and illustrations show females working in all manner of family businesses and cottage industries that, during economic stress, helped supplement their family’s income. The 1434 Charter of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths, the most important metalworking guild in London, listed a handful of “sistren” among the ranks of “brethren”. By the 18th century, most of England’s nailsmiths and chain makers were women or children.
In the American colonies, it was common practice during the winter months for a blacksmith’s home hearth to be used for making nails. When operating a family business, family members were the cheapest form of labor. Finding a female apprenticed to blacksmithing was extremely rare but not unheard of. History notwithstanding, Aislinn strikes a decidedly feminine pose in a dress with shoulders and sleeves specially designed to allow a full range of arm motion as she works.
“My interest in blacksmithing began when I was a young teenager,” Aislinn recalls. “I started volunteering at George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Westmoreland County just down the road from where I lived. Initially I began working with the livestock because I had an interest in animals, but they also had a small blacksmith shop set up as part of the Colonial era farm, and I spent a lot of time watching the volunteers there, which I found fascinating. Encouraged to give it a try rather than just watching, I spent almost two years volunteering in the shop and learning from the two smiths there.”
Learning that a blacksmith guild was starting up at Rice’s Hotel and Hughlett’s Tavern in Heathsville under the auspices of the RHH Foundation’s Heathsville Blacksmith Forge, Aislinn spent four years learning the trade at their coal-fired forge powered by a manual bellows, becoming more and more enamored with the trade. After graduating from high school, and with no desire to be stuck working behind a desk, she went searching for a way to combine her love for history with her fascination for blacksmithing.
Aislinn discovered the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston that educates and trains artisans in six areas of traditional building arts: timber farming, architectural carpentry, plaster, masonry, architectural stone carving, and blacksmithing. The unique curriculum fosters exceptional craftsmanship and encourages the preservation, enrichment, and understanding of the world’s architectural heritage.
The school’s summer internships encourage students to seek employment in historic work and one of Aislinn’s professors, previously associated with the Anderson shop, encouraged her to apply to CWF as an apprentice. Upon graduation she gained full-time employment and now, as a newly papered journeyman, works alongside three other journeymen and an apprentice, all overseen by Blacksmith and Master of the Shop Kenneth Schwarz.
When one thinks of blacksmithing, many envision horseshoes and weapons, notions gathered from movies and television. In towns like 18th century Williamsburg however, it was the farrier who forged shoes and sod horses. Elsewhere, cutlers specialized in making swords, daggers, and other sharp edge tools. Blacksmiths on the other hand worked with iron and steel to hammer out and repair useful and everyday items: tools for other tradesmen, household utensils, fireplace equipment, cooking utensils, agricultural implements, door hinges, keys, signage hardware, weathervanes, and nails.
For nearly four decades Ken has been leaving his mark from one end of Colonial Williamsburg to another. In recent years he’s overseen the reconstruction of the armoury building, including four blacksmith forges, a kitchen, privy, and a tinsmith shop that is the only pre-industrial tin shop in the country. Ken’s knowledge of the trade and leadership role leads him to seek out qualified candidates who possess equal passion for the historical trades.
“Depending upon one’s level of experience, if someone comes into the shop with little or no experience, it can take as much as six to eight years as an apprentice to become a journeyman,” Ken explains. “Aislinn already had a number of years’ experience and a level of educational focus that she was able to fulfill the requirements of journeyman in less than six years.
When I look to hire an employee I’m looking for a background in the trades and hand skills. Interacting well with the public, having communication skills to create a strong, concise, historical narrative to present to visitors is vital. If you are uncomfortable talking with the public or are clumsy with hand tools, you’re not going to be successful here.”
Apprentices start on projects that teach them to use a hammer precisely; to understand how the material moves; and to be able to move it accurately and consistently utilizing the different surfaces of the hammer and anvil. Cooking utensils are great examples, stretching the material sideways and lengthwise while maintaining a consistent thickness. The pieces are also small enough that each one can be completed fairly quickly.
“This helps develop coordination and judgement,” Ken explains. “You must think and work quickly because as soon as the iron is removed from the fire it begins to cool and change rapidly. A blacksmith must have a mental image of the finished product, and in between every hammer blow, they must transfer that visual image from the eye to the hand.” It’s that conceptual and sculptural ability that defines success or failure.
“There are seven skills that go into working with iron. You can make it longer and thinner; shorter and thicker; you can bend it, twist it, cut, weld, and punch holes in it. By giving apprentices repetitive projects that utilize all seven skills helps develop those skill sets.”
In researching Anderson’s shop, no records indicate women were employed there during the Colonial era “It grew from a small, privately owned shop prior to the Revolution to a large operation contracted by the Commonwealth during the war as an armoury performing weapons maintenance and manufacturing entrenching tools and hardware for vehicles and ships,” Ken explains. “As the war intensified, increasing demands on the armoury required an expanded work force and a larger workspace. With government financial underwriting, workshop expansion continued throughout the war.”
Regardless of one’s gender, blacksmithing is hot, dirty, and physically demanding. Metals must be heated to around 2000ºF to be soft enough to be hammered and shaped. In winter, the temperature inside the shop may be pleasant but, with overcast days or the sun hanging low in the sky, the only light in the shop comes from rows of single hung windows and the glow from the forges that limits the work that can be done. In summer the shop is sweltering. Dressed in interpretive costumes and draped with leather aprons, the blacksmiths perspire profusely, consuming gallons of water.
The blacksmith shop is far and away the most popular historic trade in Colonial Williamsburg. The work attracts a number of visitors, some already blacksmith hobbyists looking to expand their experience in blacksmithing.
“Part of our goal here, our mandate, is to preserve these traditional skills for future generations,” says Ken. “Some of the smaller, lesser known trades have struggled to attract qualified candidates and as journeymen retire it’s a huge loss of knowledge that goes with them. We’ve been fortunate in that respect.
Very few professions today involve hand skills. Even in today’s modern manufacturing, more of the work involves computers with men and women working at a keyboard rather than with their hands. Many people have an innate desire to do creative work with their hands—gardening, cooking, or painting—while others are drawn to the trades as hobbyists, so the number of professional blacksmiths is growing. Many are inspired by fantasy movies that portray swords and sword making, like “Pirates of the Caribbean” or reality TV shows like “Forged in Fire”.”
“The majority of our work is making items to support ongoing projects here in Colonial Williamsburg,” Aislinn adds. “There’s always building projects going on that demand something from the forges. This winter we were re-making the running gear for one of our carriages. Occasionally we get the opportunity to do collaborative work with others. The Museum of the Revolutionary War in Philadelphia has an exhibit that displays Washington’s actual field tent. To protect the tent would limit interaction, so the museum approached the various trades here to reproduce the tent and its furnishings. I made the hardware for the folding campaign-style chairs and field bed.”
In January the historic area closes, allowing the trades to go into collections and study old work. Part of an apprentice’s education is to study examples of 18th century items, determine what styles were most popular, and how they were made. The ultimate goal is to replicate the style, method of manufacture, and the character of the original pieces they may be called upon to make. By examining actual objects and studying period drawings, the CWF blacksmiths are able to capture the depth, texture, surface finish, and ultimately the beauty of the originals. From hearth to art, it’s skills that will live on into the future.
In addition to the blacksmith shop, you can learn more about this subject at a new exhibit at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum. Called ‘From Forge to Furnace: A Celebration of Early American Iron’ highlights decorative and useful items made in the 18th and 19th centuries.Visit colonialwilliamsburg.com for more information.