The Scottish Tartans Museum is a
non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the history and traditions of
Scottish Highland Dress.
Our museum was
founded by The Scottish Tartans Society (STS), which was established in
Scotland in 1963 to maintain a worldwide membership and museums in Scotland
and abroad, to create and maintain the Register of All Publicly Known Tartans,
encourage research into Highland Dress, and to provide a design service for
new tartans.
The Scottish
Tartans Museum was established by the STS to be a center for reliable
information on Scottish Highland Dress traditions within the United States, to
serve the large Scottish-American heritage community. Originally established in Highlands,
NC, in 1988, the museum has been in Franklin
since 1994 where we have both educated about tartan and Highland Dress
as well as served as a general Scottish Heritage Center for the region.
Museum
Director Matthew Newsome leading students through the museum gallery.
Our museum is open year-round, six
days a week (except for major holidays). Our gallery is regularly
visited by school groups, researchers, families and interested individuals.
Volunteers are often available to provide guided tours, and staff is always on
hand to answer questions and help with basic tartan research.
Our
museum gallery features kilts dating back to c. 1800, and tartan specimens c.
1725. Over 500 tartan samples are on display, including tartans for
clans, families, districts, and other organizations. Our computer
database, courtesy of the Scottish
Tartans Authority, contains thousands of unique tartan designs, both
historic and modern.
Our museum staff and volunteers are
routinely invited into area schools, from elementary school to the university,
to give presentations on Scottish heritage and Highland dress.
Our museum staff and volunteers
also attend a number of regional Scottish Festivals and Highland Games
throughout the year to provide a tartan information service to festival
visitors. So if you are attending a festival in the southeastern US, be
on the lookout for our tent!
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Click here
to learn more about The Scottish Tartans Museum by watching a brief
video tour and interview, featured on North Carolina Weekend.
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Click
here to learn more about our museum staff.
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Click
here to find out how you can support the museum!
The Friends of the Scottish Tartans
Museum
Our museum
has a Friends organization that provides us both with volunteer muscle and
moral support. The Friends help organize our annual
Taste of Scotland
festival in June, as well as plan events throughout the year, such as Robert
Burns Dinners, Tartan Day activities, and other heritage events. Friends
membership is open to the public. They also represent the Museum at
various Highland Games and other Scottish festivals in the region.
Museum piper-in-residence Jean
Hayes performs Fridays at noon in front of the museum during the summer.
