sharing the love of needlework through shows, classes and seminars

Aimee Newell, PhD

Aimee E. Newell is Director of Collections at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts. She is the former Curator of Textiles and Fine Arts at Old Sturbridge Village and also the former Curator of Collections at the Nantucket Historical Association. Aimee has a BA in American Studies, an MA in History and a PhD in History from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. Her dissertation is entitled "A Stitch in Time: The Needlework of Aging Women in Antebellum America." Her work has appeared in Piecework Magazine, Nantucket Magazine, The Magazine Antiques and the Proceedings of the Dublin Seminar for the New England Folklife.

 

 

Class #113
LECTURE: Two for one

Teacher: Aimee Newell, PhD
Max: 40 students (Min: 15 students)
Level: All
Description: Calling all sampler lovers

Price: $35.00
Scheduled: Thursday, 5:00pm - 6:45pm

Two lectures for the price of one! Both the Nantucket talk and the Solomon's Temple talk are about 30 minutes, and then Aimee will answer any questions for about 15 minutes after the lecture.

Carefully Inwrought: Nantucket Samplers: Join Aimee E. Newell, former Curator of Collections at the Nantucket Historical Association, for an overview of 200 years of samplers made on Nantucket Island. Influenced by Quakerism, as well as the seafaring trades, Nantucket samplers exhibit a distinctive style. After a brief introduction to American sampler history, Newell will use slides of island samplers to weave together history, stitching and the lives of Nantucket girls and women.

Solomon's Temple Samplers: An Expression of Shared Ideals: 18th- and 19th-century samplers employing the Solomon's Temple motif abound. Often misinterpreted, Aimee E. Newell will share the results of a recent study of more than 60 of these samplers. Newell will show that most samplers using the temple motif were made in England. Sometimes thought to be "Masonic," these samplers seem to suggest that Masonic ideals were influenced by their larger culture. This illustrated lecture will offer an overview of Freemasonry and its common symbols, as well as an examination of the often misinterpreted Solomon's Temple motif.

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