In addition to his medical work and spiritual mission in Labrador, Sir Wilfred Grenfell was constantly seeking inspiration for ways to help people help themselves. He was also on the look-out for and recruiting volunteers who could help him do this. He found one such person in Jessie Luther, an artist and teacher with considerable experience in craft production from Providence, Rhode Island. She was also a champion of the Arts and Crafts movement — an attempt to counter the rapid changes associated with industrialization by encouraging a return to domestic handicrafts.

Grenfell met her in the Boston area in 1905 when he was observing her work in the early development of the field of occupational therapy. He immediately invited her to join his team. She travelled to St. Anthony in 1906 and spent much of the next 10 years developing a program of occupational therapy for patients as well as what became known as the "Industrial."

The basic premise of the Industrial was the production of handmade items by local women that were exchanged for clothing; the items were then sold by the Mission throughout Canada, the United States and United Kingdom to raise funds for its work.

Display of goods made by the people of Newfoundland and Labrador under the supervision of the Industrial Dept., Grenfell Mission. ca. 1930. The Rooms Provincial Archives IGA 19-31.

Red Bay Industrial and Nursing Station, 1920s. The Rooms Provincial Archives LS 526.

Village of Boulter’s Rock. An Industrial Station was established there. The Rooms Provincial Archives VA 110-24.3.

Jessie Luther founded weaving centres at St. Anthony and other locations, including Forteau and Red Bay. She also encouraged the production of native embroidery and grass work in Labrador. By far, her most important contribution was the development of the hooked mat industry. Local women made simple mats for their homes by hooking old fabric through loops in burlap.

Inspired by colourfully designed rugs that she saw in rural New Hampshire, she introduced designs depicting local scenes that appealed to consumers outside the local area. When she resigned from the Grenfell Mission at the end of 1915 she left a well-organized enterprise with established markets for its products.

Outside St. Anthony, Red Bay had one of the most successful and continuous industrial centres run by Miss Mary (Minnie) Pike. Her association with Grenfell began with his first visit to Red Bay in 1892. She accompanied her father Levi when he piloted Grenfell's ship Albert the last few miles to Red Bay. Her dedication to Grenfell and his mission started that day; she assisted him when he visited the community and learned to administer first aid.

Minnie Pike, wearing glasses, instructing a woman on the use of a loom outside Denison Cottage, the Forteau Nursing Station. Minnie Pike, a former Mission student, attended Berea College and instructed residents on the southern Labrador Coast in a variety of crafts. The Rooms Provincial Archives, IGA 1-434.

Grenfell and Minnie Pike on deck of MV Jessie Goldthwaith, Red Bay, 1939. The Rooms Provincial Archives VA 92-237.

Minnie Pike and Assistants. (1920s). Miss Pike with Mary and Clara Morris at the Red Bay Industrial. The Rooms Provincial Archives VA 118-240.

In 1910 Grenfell brought her to St. Anthony, where she became a member of his household. She learned to weave with Jessie Luther, who was teaching the skill to local women. Grenfell's wife Anne later arranged for her to attend Berea College in Kentucky to continue her training. When she returned to Red Bay she set up an industrial centre there. The former Methodist parsonage was acquired for the purpose and two looms were set up there. During the next two decades she trained women in the community to become talented weavers. The women also hooked rugs, and in 1929 they sent $670.00 worth of woven articles and rugs to St. Anthony to be sold by Grenfell Industries. Minnie Pike died 28 April 1943.

Minnie Pike was also known to teach weaving to other women in southern Labrador, including at Forteau. The women at Forteau were also known for making silk flowers, a skill taught to them by Sister Florence Bailey.

Grenfell operations at other communities along the south Labrador coast also encouraged industrial work among the local women, including Indian Harbour, Cartwright and the area around Battle Harbour and Mary's Harbour. The work of the Mission centred on providing medical services to the fishermen of the Labrador coast, and in summer there were thousands of them scattered among the coves and islands of the area. Efforts were made to reach them by setting up seasonal operations, and industrial work was encouraged at these locations as well. For example, during the summer of 1929 there were industrial centres operating at George's Cove, Boulter's Rock and Seal Islands.

It is likely that these centres were the result of a trip along the Labrador coast by Catherine E. Cleveland in 1923. The goal of the trip was to determine the possibility of craft development among the women of the coast in light of recent failures in the fishing and fur industries. She wanted to see what the women could do and the quality of their work, teach them how to do other crafts and provide them with materials to be used for production over the winter. For example, at Spotted Islands a class was started to learn Swedish darning to make borders for fancy bags.

Kitty Keddie, wearing head scarf, with two young women and older woman seated on veranda working on handicrafts. Craft items from the Industrial, primarily dolls, are on veranda and visible through window. (1930s). The Rooms Provincial Archives, A 58-119.

Mrs. Kate M. (Kitty) Keddie worked with the IGA from 1931 to 1958. She started with the St. Anthony clothing store and was a long-time Industrial Worker at Cartwright, Labrador. Keddie retired in 1958 and left Labrador. The Rooms Provincial Archives A 101-2.

Mat making in the Industrial Department. This is Ida Lethbridge from Cartwright. In 1945 she lived close by the Grenfell properties in Cartwright and appears to have had a nurse and nurse’s aid from the hospital staying with her. She is hooking a rug with the mallard duck pattern. The Rooms Provincial Archives IGA 16-32.

Starting in 1934, Kate M. (Kitty) Wilson Keddie spent 24 years at Cartwright as head of the Grenfell Industrial Department for coastal Labrador. The daughter of a Hudson Bay Company factor, she spent much of her childhood at Rigolet, where Wilfred Grenfell was a welcome and frequent visitor to the Wilson family. As an adult she lived and worked in western Canada, where she married Philip Keddie. He died of the Spanish Flu at Cumberland House, SK in 1918; Mrs. Keddie was one of only three survivors in that community.

In 1931 she joined the Grenfell Mission at Northwest River and three years later took on the job with the Industrial Department at Cartwright. Mrs. Keddie ran the Industrial Centre there and travelled the coast once a year to visit industrial workers. She was responsible for the construction of the new and modern Lady Grenfell Memorial Industrial Building at Cartwright in 1951. As head of the Department, Mrs. Keddie demanded a high standard of work and is responsible for the exceptional embroidery still done in the Cartwright area. She retired in 1958 and died in Winnipeg in 1966.

Of the crafts and skills developed by the Grenfell Mission for the Industrial work, the tradition of hooked mats has been the most enduring. Many women in the southern Labrador region still hook rugs, either for sale or for pastime. In danger of being lost, in the 1990s local initiatives were undertaken to encourage younger people to learn the skill and preserve it. Beautiful examples can be purchased at various shops in the area.