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Coming Events Exhibition of Antique Needlework Opens July 9 TWO HUNDRED YEARS of Nantucket Needlework is the title of an exhibition of antique and historical needlework to be held this summer under the auspices of the Nantucket Historical Association. The exhibition will open Monday, July 9, at the Peter Foulger Museum and will continue throughout the summer. It is presently scheduled to close September 3rd. The exhibition has many possibilities—samplers, embroidered pictures, quilts, mourning pieces, petticoats, shawls and other interesting pieces of needlework executed on island prior to 1900. An enthusiastic group of women is working diligently, and has been for the past two months, under the direction of Elizabeth Gilbert, chairman of the exhibition. The many pieces loaned to the Association have been sorted, culled and cleaned. The best examples of each category have been selected and have been photographed. As many of these photographs as possible will be used in a brochure describing the exhibits. The Historical Association's museums have provided a varied and excellent assortment as the nucleus for the exhibition. These include several very interesting quilts, most of which have fascinating stories to go with them. There are also delicately embroidered gowns and petticoats, handed down from one generation to another, all carefully preserved by their owners. There is a representative selection of samplers, their fine stitches often the work of young girls who were required to "do their stint" each day, sometimes by the light of only one or two kerosene lamps. Each piece chosen to be displayed in the exhibition will have as much documentation as possible: the name of the embroiderer, the approximate date of completion, and such other information as may make the piece of greater interest to the visitor. The exhibition will be arranged in the room at the north side of the Peter Foulger Museum, on the second floor. It will be open to the public during the hours when the Museum itself is open. If our visitors show as much enthusiasm when they see the antique Nantucket needlework as Mrs. Gilbert's committee have shown while they have been getting it ready, the Nantucket Historical Association will have another successful endeavor to enter on its records.
