E sca p e I nto H er Cra ft s –M a ry S co t t H a m i l to n’s Embro id ery
Fig. 17. Mary Scott Hamilton embroidery after conservation.
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Late in 2020, an embroidered textile arrived at MTS from with a story we had never heard. A family of five, living and working in Manila, spent over three years during World War II at an internment camp awaiting peace between the Allied forces and the Japanese. MTS Director Camille Myers Breeze spoke with the eldest son of the artist Mary Scott Hamilton, Samuel Weir Hamilton III, who is living in Massachusetts.
Poppy, as he is called, was born in Shanghai in 1930, and turned twelve the year the sampler was begun. His mother Mary was a nurse in Bejing when she met Sam Senior (later known as Papa Sam) who worked for First National City Bank, now known as Citicorp. Mary was an avid knitter, and according to her son, was known to “escape into her crafts.” The basic facts are clear from the lettering around the perimeter
