A photograph of a portrait painting of Ira Draper from the book Five Generations of Loom Builders: A History of the Draper Corporation by William H. Chase. In 1816 Ira Draper patented the self-acting loom temple. Loom temples kept the cloth straight on the loom, but they constantly had to be readjusted by the operators. Draper's self-acting loom temples did not need to be readjusted, thereby greatly increasing productivity. This innovation eventually became the first and most successful product of the Hopedale Community, and was the foundation of the Draper Corporation.
Image is from page xii of Five Generations of Loom Builders: A History of the Draper Corporation.
Is part of the Bancroft Memorial Library Local History Collection, Hopedale, Massachusetts. http://www.hopedale-ma.gov/Public_Documents/HopedaleMA_Library/index
