Textile and dress historian, Jacqueline Field, presents the third talk in the March Collaborative Encounters series on Thursday, March 29 at 6:00 p.m. The free talk, “The WWI Dye Shortage: Color, Clothes, and Chemistry,” will be held at the Maine State Library, 230 State Street, Augusta.

In the talk, Ms. Field will address the little remembered war-time dye and chemical famine caused when the British blockaded German ports. She will also discuss the United States’ dependence on German dyes and chemicals and the survival strategies adopted by the print, textile, and clothing industries, including the scramble to develop a domestic dye industry, after supplies were cut off.

Field’s talk is part of the March Collaborative Encounters series jointly sponsored by the Maine State Library, Maine State Museum, and Maine State Archives. The Museum’s new exhibition, “Over There and Down Home: Mainers and World War I,” will be open free of charge from 5:00 – 5:30 p.m. prior to Field’s talk.

The final presentation in the series will be: April 12 – “Maine and World War I” A Talk and Book Signing by Jason Libby and Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. All programs begin at 6:00 p.m.