Books recommended for historical text on antique needlework or needleworkers Page 9

Virtue Leads & Grace Reveals: Embroideries and Education in Antebellum South Carolina
by Curious Works Press, in conjunction with the exhibit of the same name, at the Museum of York County, in Rock Hill, SC

America's southern females have been practicing their handwork skills since their foremothers set down roots in the British colonies. The most recent research on southern embroidery is presented in this new exhibit catalog, written by curator Patricia Veasey, with an essay by Jaime Robinson. Its focus is schoolgirl samplers from the upstate Carolinas, made from the late 18th century to the mid-Civil War era. The stories of these samplers are intertwined with stories of migration, religion, trade, socio-economic status, family ties, prescribed roles for southern women, and slavery. These compelling narratives counter existing stereotypes of the activities of southern women, and the embroideries themselves illuminate previously unheralded contributions of young southern needleworkers. Paper, 56 pages, 39 color plates, $20.00

On This Fair Sampler Does My Needle Write
An Exhibition at Witney Antiques October 11-30,2004
The title of this exhibition comes from the verse on a sampler sewn by Mary Bishop in 1838. Included in the exhibit are samplers from the collection of Emma Henriette Schiff von Suvero. At the outbreak of World War II, this unique collection was seized by the Nazis, and was left in the care of the Staatlich Kunstgewerbe museum, in Vienna. The samplers were stored there until 2003, when restitution was made by the Austrian government. (Scarlet Letter: we aren't certain to whom restitution was made) This exhibition includes both English and Continental samplers, which, since its dispersal in November 2003, has not been seen since it was collected almost a century ago. $31.00