Birth, Death, and Alphabets:
The Enduring Legacy of Schoolgirl Needleworks Before 1850
The Salisbury Association’s Historical Society is hosting an Opening Reception on Saturday, February 15 from 4 to 6 pm for its new exhibit, “Birth, Death, and Alphabets: The Enduring Legacy of Schoolgirl Needleworks Before 1850.” The exhibit will highlight samplers stitched by girls, mostly aged 5 to 16, between 1689 and 1850. Remarkable for their inventiveness and beauty, needlework samplers are historical documents written by girls on silk and linen with needles.
The exhibit is curated by Alexandra Peters, a resident of Sharon, and presents some of the samplers in her 150 piece collection. The exhibit will run from February 15 until April 30 at the Academy Building, 24 Main Street, Salisbury.
In addition, Alexandra will give a talk on February 22, from 4 to 5 pm at the Scoville Memorial Library in Salisbury. The talk will discuss how needleworks made before 1850 show us life before the Industrial Revolution from the often surprising perspective of young women. Registration is required for the talk, which will be offered in person and on line, at www.scovilelibrary.org.
Background information:
Alexandra Lally Peters is a sampler collector and historian who first encountered a schoolgirl sampler that she could buy forty years ago and was so startled to be holding history in her hands that she hasn’t stopped buying them since. Alexandra researches every sampler she buys – sometimes, she will admit, a little obsessively. She loves turning up intriguing information about the lives of the real girls who sat down in school to pierce their linen and silks with needles, two to three hundred years ago. She lives in New York City and in Sharon, CT, with a lot of samplers that explain so much about the lives of women in the past.
The 2025 exhibition at the Salisbury Association is a selection from Alexandra’s curated collection, which includes over 150 samplers (ever growing!) stitched by girls, mostly aged 5-16, between 1698 and 1850. The collection is primarily American, with several British, as well as a few Dutch and French samplers.
For more information about the Alexandra Peters Collection, please visit alexandralallypeters.com/the-collection.