History of the National Textile Association

The National Textile Association traces its history to 1854, the founding date of the Hampden County (Massachusetts) Cotton Spinners' Association, subsequently the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association (1865), which was incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on December 1, 1894. Subsequently the organization became the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers (NACM) in April, 1906.

The Northern Textile Association was founded April 17, 1953 by the NACM, in time for the 100th Annual Meeting of the Association in 1954. The NACM and NTA held joint meetings from April 17, 1953 to September 27,1956. On December 7, 1956 the NACM filed the legal change of name to NTA. (On October 30, 1991, the legal name was changed to Northern Textile Association, Inc.)

The 1950s to 1990s saw the erection of "councils" or industry-specific groups within NTA

  1. The Wool Manufacturers Council formed in 1956.
  2. The Felt Manufacturers Council was formed June 2, 1961.
  3. In 1970 the Elastic Fabric Manufacturers Institute dissolved and its members formed, in January 1970, the Elastic Fabric Manufacturers Council of the Northern Textile Association. Out of this group would emerge NTA's Warp Knit Division.
  4. Also active in the 1980s and 1990s was NTA's Narrow Elastic Manufacturers Association.
  5. Around this time NTA members who produced textiles, but who didn't fit into any of the other councils, came to be grouped in the NTA Cotton and Synthetic Group.
  6. The American Flock Association was formed as a part of the Northern Textile Association in 1985.
  7. The Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute, founded in Boston in 1984, is separately incorporated in the State of New York and operates from the NTA office in Boston.
  8. September 22, 1999 the NTA Finishers Group formed.
In 1966, the Knitted Textile Association was organized in New York, New York. KTA grew to become the largest trade organization of U.S. circular knit and warp knit manufacturers.

In 2002, by a vote of the KTA in August and the NTA in September, the Knitted Textile Association and the Northern Textile Association merged to form the NATIONAL TEXTILE ASSOCIATION. (The name changed was filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on October 7, 2002.)

From the Knitted Textiles Association the merger was facilitated by a committee consisting of:

Marty Sohn
Regina Conroy-Keller
Earl Kramer
Marvin Moster and
Skip Gehring

The Northern Textile Association committee was:

Karl Spilhaus
Henry A. Truslow III
Jonathan Stevens
Jonathan Hurstfield-Meyer

Beginning with the 2002 Annual Meeting, the first for the new National Textile Association that resulted from the merger of the Northern Textile Association and the Knitted Textile Association (KTA), the Finishers Group was blended with the Warp Knit Division and members of the former KTA to form the Knitters and Finishers Group.


On April 22, 2004, the NTA Upholstery Fabrics Committee was formed.

In September 2004, NTA celebrated our 150th anniversary in Cooperstown, New York

By 2005, after several months of effort, NTA launched its Government Textiles Committee.

Since September 2005, NTA and ATMA, the American Textile Machinery Associated (founded 1933) have offered a discounted dual membership offering: join both organizations at a dues discount of 25% off the annual dues in each organization. That's a quarter off ATMAŽ dues and a quarter off NTA dues!

Additional Materials.

Historical records of interest