Date: Sunday, May 5th
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: The Litchfield History Museum (7 South Street) and Online via Zoom
Suggested Donation $10
Registration Requested for In-Person Attendees
Registration Required via Zoom
To accompany the opening of their newest exhibit, With Their Busy Needles: Samplers and the Girls Who Made Them, The Litchfield Historical Society is delighted to welcome guest curator, Alexandra Peters, for a lecture title “Know My Name: How Schoolgirl Samplers Created a Remarkable History” on Sunday, May 5th at 3:00 p.m. at the Litchfield History Museum. For those unable to attend in person, a Zoom option is also being offered.
The power of the needle wielded by girls in the creation of samplers has often been overlooked in early American history. Revolutions were taking place, abolitionists were fighting slavery, and literate schoolgirls were sewing thousands of samplers that were meant to show off their accomplishments. The samplers they stitched, often strikingly beautiful, give us a surprising way to look into the lives of these girls, their families and the changing world around them.
Alexandra Peters, a collector and historian of samplers, will talk about a variety of the samplers from her collection now being exhibited at Litchfield Historical Society, how she became a collector, and why schoolgirl needleworks are so important in our understanding of women in American history. With Their Busy Needles: Samplers and the Girls Who Made Them will be on display at the Litchfield History Museum April 27th – December 1st.
Copies of the exhibit catalogue Let Their Lights So Shine: A Commentary on 27 Samplers from the Collection of Alexandra Peters is now available for sale at the LHS Gift Shop and will be for sale at the lecture.
It is also available online at https://app.etapestry.com/cart/LitchfieldHistoricalSociety/default/category.php?ref=2680.0.48106569
