Gloria Seaman Allen, author of A Maryland Sampling: Girlhood Embroidery 1738-1860, is collecting information on early female education in the District of Columbia and looking for examples of samplers and pictorial embroideries stitched by girls as part of the curriculum in organized schools or under the direction of a needlework instructor. Girls in orphan asylums and charity schools also learned to sew in order to provide for their welfare. Sheryl De Jong has documented more than 240 teachers or schools, which offered plain and ornamental needlework in the District, attesting to extensive dedication to this branch of education.
From 1801 until 1847, the ten-square mile District of Columbia included the port towns of Alexandria, Virginia, and Georgetown, Maryland, and the newly surveyed Washington City. Embroidery students occasionally stitched one of those place names on their work, yet few examples of girlhood needlework from the DC area are known at this time.
In Alexandria, from about 1818, several girls studied with a Mrs. Muir and worked distinctive samplers with beautifully executed eyelet-stitched strawberry borders, often enclosing a neoclassical building flanked by quivering evergreens. Other students stitched samplers that reflected the influence of Quaker teachers in the area.
Two schools of long duration are known from Georgetown. In 1826, Lydia English, an accomplished needlewoman, opened her Female Seminary and continued to conduct her school until 1852. Mary M. Meem was a student at the Seminary in 1835 and may have stitched her sampler under English’s direction. (Please see the accompanying
photo.) An almost identical sampler was made by another Georgetown girl in 1833. The Young Ladies’ Academy, Georgetown dates from 1799 and continues today as Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School. Betty Ring first wrote about pictorial embroideries and samplers from this Catholic school in 1993. Since then, other examples have been discovered, making this the largest known group of girlhood embroideries from the District of Columbia.
In Washington City, girls living in proximity of the Navy Yard worked samplers dating from 1810. Although they feature different buildings they share a number of motifs. Julia Ann Crowley’s is the only example to actually name the “Navy Yard,” where her father was a ship carpenter (please see accompanying
photo.) Since Ring published this group in Girlhood Embroidery, additional examples have been located that extend the date range of this distinctive style.
Dr. Allen would appreciate hearing from anyone with knowledge of samplers and pictorial embroideries and/or needlework teachers and schools associated with the District of Columbia. Please contact her at gsallen1@aol.com or by mail to:
6201 Swan Creek Road, Rock Hall, MD 21661.
