Vermont Sampler Initiative Update: October 20, 2024
Attention: The
Vermont Sampler Initiative will hold its final two day “Sampler ID
Day” event in Essex Junction, Vermont on November 15 and 16, 2024. For
more details, please see and/or download the flyer below.
Report Update: The Vermont
Sampler Initiative (VSI) was formally launched in the fall of 2022
with the goal of locating, photographing, and documenting all
schoolgirl samplers in the state’s public and private collections.
The VSI is an all-volunteer effort working in collaboration with the
national Sampler Archive Project to increase public awareness and
visibility of Vermont samplers and related girlhood embroideries. All
American samplers located and documented by the VSI will eventually
appear in the Sampler Archive’s online searchable database.
In the two years since our first
Sampler ID day at the Bennington Museum, we have identified 787
samplers, 457 of which have been attributed to Vermont makers and
another 131 that can be attributed to sampler makers in other states
(see summary below). The samplers with dates span 100 years of
Vermont history from the circa 1777 sampler made by Hannah Smith of
Bridport, Vermont to the 1876 sampler of Ada Mae Sargent of Franklin,
Vermont.
Our
success is due to funding from the Vermont Humanities Council,
donations from dozens of supporters, and our dedicated team of
volunteers who have spent countless hours documenting samplers and
researching family histories. The Rokeby Museum and Historic Site in
Ferrisburgh, Vermont has served as our fiscal agent. Sampler ID day
events have been hosted by the Bennington Museum, Shelburne Museum,
Vermont History Center, Henry Sheldon Museum, Old Stone House Museum,
and the Historical Society of Windham County. In addition, we
traveled to the homes of two private collectors of Vermont samplers,
where more than 180 samplers were registered and photographed for the
Sampler Archive online database.
Plans for the next two years
include: 1) photography and documentation of samplers at three
Vermont museums that were unable to participate earlier; 2)
documentation of Vermont made samplers held by collectors in other
states; and 3) developing and implementing plans to share the Vermont
Sampler Initiative’s results with diverse audiences.
For more information, or to
become involved in the Vermont Sampler Initiative, please contact
Ellen Thompson ([email protected]).
Please press the DONATE button – any amount will be helpful!
Below is a PDF flyer about the Vermont Sampler Initiative and the upcoming Sampler
ID Days. Please feel free to click the download button and share with your network
of sampler lovers and owners.
Report Update: The Vermont
Sampler Initiative (VSI) was formally launched in the fall of 2022
with the goal of locating, photographing, and documenting all
schoolgirl samplers in the state’s public and private collections.
The VSI is an all-volunteer effort working in collaboration with the
national Sampler Archive Project to increase public awareness and
visibility of Vermont samplers and related girlhood embroideries. All
American samplers located and documented by the VSI will eventually
appear in the Sampler Archive’s online searchable database.
