Women & Work: Labor, Craft and 19th-Century Women’s Lives March 1
The Western Illinois Museum, in partnership with the WIU Women’s Studies Program, presents Women & Work: Labor, Craft, and 19th-Century Women’s Lives on Sunday, March 1st, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. The afternoon brings together learning about 19th-century history, viewing museum artifacts, and hands-on crafting.
The program begins with a presentation on what was known as servant work in the 19th century by Sarah Adams, Curator of Collections and Continued from page 1 Interpretation at Edwards House in Springfield. She will discuss historical items from Edwards House, the oldest house in Springfield, which tells the story of social and domestic life during the era of Abraham Lincoln's Illinois. Adams will then lead an embroidery activity in which participants create a take-home cross-stitch cover for a mason jar.
Museum
Guests will also have opportunities to explore Western Illinois Museum artifacts related to women’s work and craft, interact with WIU students and local artists who continue these skills through contemporary craft traditions, and enjoy homemade pie.
A suggested $5 donation at the door helps support the Museum’s community programming.
This will also be the last opportunity to view the current exhibit, Inspiring Stitches: Embroidery Quilts by Millie Sorrells, which showcases 20 new embroidery quilts. Local artist Millie Sorrells’s award-winning work has been exhibited nationwide and is included in the permanent collections of the Illinois State Museum, the International Quilt Museum in Nebraska, the National Quilt Museum in Kentucky, and the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts.
1:00 pm “Servant Work” | Sarah Adams 1:40-2:00 pm Q&A | Sarah Adams 2:00-2:20 pm Artifact & Craft Walkaround with WIU students, and pie will be served 2:20-3:00 pm Cross-Stitch Letter Mason Jars | Sarah Adams ______ _.______
Located at 201 S. Lafayette Street, just a block south of Macomb’s Courthouse Square, the Western Illinois Museum is a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the history, culture, and traditions of McDonough County. The building is fully accessible, and there is free parking available.
Visit wimuseum.org for a full schedule of events, or follow us on social media @wimuseum. For questions, call 309-837-2750, text 309-837-2613, or email info@wimuseum. org.
This program is funded in part by grants from the Illinois Arts Council.
Sarah Adams is the Curator of Collections and Interpretation at Edwards House in Springfield, Illinois. She holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Western Illinois University and an M.A. in Museum Studies from the University of Kansas. She has worked in the museum field since 2012 with a focus on history and anthropology collections.
Sarah's research interests include 19th-century social history, religious culture, and historic foodways. She examines how our everyday habits influence and are influenced by the society in which we live. As a museum professional, she uses artifacts to help investigate those habits so we can make a bridge to our past by forging tangible connections to it.
The Edwards House (1833) is the oldest house in Springfield and tells the story of social and domestic life during the era of Abraham Lincoln's Illinois. Once a center for social activity in the city, the Italianate mansion was remodeled in 1857 and restored to its antebellum glory in 2015. Prominent citizens and politicians such as Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, David Davis, and numerous governors, judges, lawyers, and politicians were entertained at lavish dinner parties, while the grounds played host to many summer picnics and political rallies. The house was the home of attorney Benjamin Edwards, the youngest son of Governor Ninian Edwards and brother-in-law of Elizabeth Edwards, Mary Lincoln’s sister. Since 1913, Edwards Place has been owned and operated by the Springfield Art Association, a private, non-profit visual arts organization.
