This summer, Putney Public Library, in partnership with the VT Sampler Initiative and Putney Historical Society, is part of a state-wide Sampler Driving Tour, to view schoolgirl needlework samplers, from the post-Revolutionary War period.
These pieces of 19th century needlework were an essential part of education during the Revolutionary and federal period of our history. This is how girls learned to read, write, and spell their own names. Families often framed them and hung them on a parlor wall, to announce to visitors that they valued education enough to pay for their daughters to become educated citizens – and marriageable young women, to any aspiring suitors. Putney Library will host a display of 6 embroidered samplers from private collections and photographs of many more local examples which will be displayed from June 2nd-August 30th. The samplers are on display during library hours: Monday-Friday 10:30am-6pm and Saturdays 10am-1pm. This display is free and open to the public.
For more information on the Sampler Driving Tour, click here.