The Sampler Consortium is an international organization of scholars,
historians, curators, educators, genealogists, textile conservators,
collectors, dealers, and needlework enthusiasts interested in the study
of historic samplers and other girlhood embroideries.
The SamplerConsortium Report is a new effort we are
launching in our desire to build community and share developments with
the Sampler Consortium membership. We anticipate sending updates on
projects and funding efforts, as well as invite your participation in
new initiatives. In the future, we will have a more interactive online
forum to promote discussion and sharing. In the meantime, your ideas and
input are very welcome, so please feel free to communicate with us by
emailing info@samplerconsortium.org. If you have an announcement appropriate
for the whole membership, we will post it in the next Sampler
Consortium Report.
As you know, the Sampler Consortium has three major objectives:
1. To advance the study of historic samplers and other girlhood embroideries;
2. To increase access to information and research relevant to the study
of historic samplers and girlhood embroideries;
3. To design, develop, and support projects that advance the study of
historic samplers and other girlhood embroideries.
Projects
currently supported by the Sampler Consortium include:
1. SamplerCentral. An annotated list of bookmarked websites with
information about samplers, sampler collections, sampler research, and
related topics. This resource can be found at:
http://delicious.com/SamplerCentral. To submit a website for
inclusion, please email Lynne Anderson at
lynneandrs@gmail.com.
2. Research Support. Supporting scholars who are
researching historic samplers and pictorial embroideries. The Sampler
Consortium is currently working with Dr. Gloria Seaman Allen to locate
samplers from the Washington, DC area in preparation for a new book on
this subject. For an announcement of this project and a request for
information on DC samplers please see:
http://samplerconsortium.org.
3. Sampler Archive Project. An online searchable database that
brings together images and descriptive information about American
girlhood samplers and pictorial embroideries from the 17th, 18th and
19th centuries. We are working to identify and describe sampler
collections across the nation, with the goal of including them in the
Sampler Archive Project. Toward this end, the Sampler Consortium
collaborated with the Center for Advanced Technology in Education at the
University of Oregon to submit a proposal to the National Endowment for
the Humanities (NEH). If funded, the project will support initial
development of the online database and digitization efforts at three
pilot sites: the Connecticut Historical Society Museum, the Daughters of
the American Revolution (DAR) Museum, and Winterthur Museum. There will
be more information on this effort in the next Sampler Consortium
Report.
4. Exhibit Documentation. Helping museums and historical
societies to document current and past exhibits on historic needlework
by creating Digital Documentation Records of exhibit information and
images.
The Sampler Consortium Steering Committee announced its membership drive
at the beginning of July, 2008 – and by the end of the month membership
had soared to more than 650 individuals and organizations. The Sampler
Consortium currently has more than 800 members, with representation from
46 states and 15 countries. Included in the membership are 25 museums
and historical societies, and more than 100 private collectors.
The Sampler Consortium continues to accept new members. Membership
application at: http://samplerconsortium.org.
