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For Immediate Release: May 21, 2015
SAMPLER ID DAYS TO BE HELD AT BIGGS MUSEUM AND LEWES HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Sponsored by the Delaware Sampler Discovery Group
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Mary Roe (18211904)
Probably taught by Eliza McKay at the Frederica Academy Kent County, Delaware 1835 Image courtesy of M. Finkel & Daughter Collection of the DAR Museum
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Dover, DE (May 21, 2015) - This summer, the Delaware Sampler Discovery Group will host two Delaware Sampler Identification Days - one at the Biggs Museum in Dover on June 13, 2015 and one at the Lewes Historical Society in Lewes on September 19, 2015.
Please bring your eighteenth and/or nineteenth century samplers and any supporting family information to one of the two Sampler Identification Days to be photographed and documented by the Delaware Sampler Discovery Group. If you have more than two samplers, please make an appointment by contacting Ryan Grover at 302-674-2111, extension 108 or email [email protected]. Volunteers will be available to help transport your samplers from parking areas to the documentation sites at both locations.
About Delaware Needlework Samplers
A needlework sampler is a piece of embroidery produced as a demonstration or test of skill in needlework, and was usually stitched by girls while attending school. Samplers and related schoolgirl embroideries frequently include alphabets, figures, motifs, verses, pictorial scenes, and decorative borders. In addition, they often include the name of the girl who stitched the sampler, the date when it was created, as well as names of family members and perhaps even a teacher. Most importantly, samplers provide an extremely rare window into the lives of girls and young women of early America.
Background
The Biggs Museum is partnering with the Delaware Sampler Discovery Group, which has been active for more than ten years, on a statewide initiative to locate, document, and 2 photograph schoolgirl samplers in Delaware's public and private collections. Two sampler ID Days were held last summer and five in 2013, with funds provided by the Delaware Humanities Forum and private donors leading to the discovery of many unpublished Delaware samplers. In March 2014, the Biggs Museum hosted an exhibition and three -day symposium on Delaware genealogical samplers entitled Wrought with Careful Hand: Ties of Kinship on Delaware Samplers. Recent and future discoveries will be researched by Dr. Gloria Seaman Allen for a comprehensive study of Delaware girlhood embroideries with a publication date of 2017.
Event Quick Facts: Sampler ID Days
Saturday, June 13, 2015 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Biggs Museum, 406 Federal Street, Dover, DE
Saturday, September 19, 2015 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Lewes Historical Society, 110 Shipcarpenter Street, Lewes, DE
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 About the Museum
The Biggs Museum seeks to serve a diverse public as a regional museum of fine and decorative arts, made from 1700 to present, representing the State of Delaware and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic region. The Biggs Museum engages audiences through a compelling program of temporary exhibitions and programming. The Biggs Museum encourages the development of creativity and an appreciation for art by offering a comprehensive slate of educational programming for all ages. The Biggs Museum of American Art is a private, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization.
Hours of Operation: Tuesday through Saturday; 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Sunday; 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Admission: The Biggs Museum's permanent collection is free to the public year-round. Fees may apply to certain feature exhibitions, programs and special events.
The Biggs Museum of American Art 406 Federal Street Dover, DE 19901 302.674.2111 www.biggsmuseum.org Media Contact: Stephanie Adams, 302.674.2111 ext.105, [email protected].
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For more information, or to request a PDF or Word Doc copy of this press release and hi-resolution image files, please contact Stephanie Adams via e-mail at [email protected]
. PDF files of this press release will be available on the Museum web-site within 24 hours. Thank you for your consideration of this important information to the community and for your continued support of the Museum through your media outlet.
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