The Filson Historical Society Digital Projects

Browse Items (77 total)

  • 2021.17.1_001a.jpg

    A small doll from an unknown time period, most likely during the early twentieth century. The doll has two sides: one girl with dark skin and black hair poking from her red hood, and a girl with light skin behind her white dress. The two girls are tethered at the hip, and when one side of the doll is flipped, the other side is revealed. It is unknown who exactly made this specific doll, who would have played with it, or when it would have been made.
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    Mixed media model of a Tudor Revival home decorated for Christmas. The model was displayed in the Olde England on the Ohio exhibit at the Filson Historical Society in 2022-2023.
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    White silk mourning ribbon memorializing the death of Abraham Lincoln. "We mourn the nation's loss / Abraham Lincoln, April 15, 1865." Abraham Lincoln manuscript collection.
  • 1936_1_1_1 copy.jpg

    Quilt belonging to Elizabeth Tyler Sturgeon. The quilt has strips of hand-woven cloth believed to have been made locally in Jefferson County, Kentucky, alternating with a commercial indigo print that was imported into the United States. The quilt, the oldest quilt in the Filson's collection, is more than 100 inches long on each side and was completely hand-stitched. Eliza married Thomas Sturgeon in 1816, who died seven years into their marriage in 1822. Eliza then took on the responsibility of managing their farm in addition to rearing her three young sons. Eliza enslaved seven people who provided crucial labor for the success of the farm and household. After her husband died, an unidentified enslaved woman helped Eliza manage the farm. In 1833, Eliza died from cholera leaving her three sons, all under the age of eighteen, to live with her brother.
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  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1991_40_3-1.jpg

    Black crepe beaded bonnet, most likely worn in mourning. Possibly worn by Mary Brigham Robinson after the death of her husband Stuart Robinson in 1881.
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1979_15_1_2.jpeg

    Mourning Bracelet made of twisted gold wire, copper pearl, and hair of Alexander Scott Bullitt (1761-1816). Less than 2" in diameter. Inscribed "ASB". Bracelets in memory of Alexander Scott Bullitt and his wife Pricilla Christian Bullitt, who settled 1200 acres known as Oxmoor, in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1979_15_2_1.jpeg

    Mourning Bracelet made of twisted gold wire, copper pearl, and hair of Priscillia Christian Bullitt (1770-1806). Less than 2" in diameter. Inscribed "PCB". Bracelets in memory of Alexander Scott Bullitt and his wife Pricilla Christian Bullitt, who settled 1200 acres known as Oxmoor, in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1980_10_5_2.jpeg

    Large jet cross with floral relief and linked chain. Worn by Elizabeth H. Bates Durrett (1831-1889), who lost one daughter, Florence Montgomery Durrett (1863-1869) at age six and a second daughter, Lily Bates Durrett (1859-1881) at the age of 21. Elizabeth also made a mourning quilt using material from her daughters' clothing. See also miniature of Lily.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/1937_1_2.jpg

    Raised embroidery whitework (also known as candle wicking) coverlet with a tufted basket and grape design. The family narrative states the coverlet was homespun from cotton grown on the farm of James Nicholls and Margaret Randolph Nicholls in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Whitework textiles were most prevalent in Kentucky between 1800 and the 1830s, and typically made by teenage girls. Elizabeth Randolph Nicholls Godman was aged fifteen when she made this coverlet. Likely the fiber for this coverlet was cultivated on the family farm. Elizabeth may have spun the fiber or taken it to a spinner (free or enslaved person), and then turned it over to a professional weaver in her community. Elizabeth would have then hand stitched the elaborate embroidered design.
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  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/FIC1059-1.jpg

    Black silk dress, most likely worn during a phase of deep mourning.
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    Dress of Hattie Leona Main (1873-1876) depicted in a painting to memorialize her life when she passed away in 1876.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/1956_7_2.jpg

    Flax paddles were used for scutching, part of the process for 'dressing' flax, or getting it prepped for spinning. The paddles separated the hard stocks from the useable fiber underneath. It took 4 months to grow flax from seed. It was beaten with the paddle until fibers could be pulled by hand through a hatchel to separate the fibers, which were then bundled and hung for drying to prepare them for spinning. Flax is one of the oldest cultivated crops in the world. It was an important crop during the colonial and early frontier era. Until the invention of the cotton gin, flax was easier to harvest and process. In Kentucky, it was commonly used in handwoven household linens. Historians estimate that families needed about ¼ to ½ acre of flax per person in a household.
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  • GW Medal.png

    Front and back view of a George Washington Inaugural Centennial Medal that was given out to those who participated in the centennial parade in New York City.
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1958_1_5_1-1.jpeg

    Bracelet made of woven hair with a an oval pendant with petals and blond braided hair in the center and two gold clasps holding the pendant.
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1982_13_2-1.jpeg

    Braided brown hair tube that is expandable, attached to an octagonal gold fastener, which originally held a pendant or charm. Collected by Robert Schmitt who was a jeweler for Drake Jewelry.
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1982_13_7_3.jpeg

    Bracelet made of woven hair with a gold clasp of two embracing hands. Most likely received as a token of friendship or love. Collected by Robert Schmitt who was a jeweler for Drake Jewelry.
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1947_2_2_1.jpeg

    Oval shaped brooch with locks of hair woven in a flower design on both sides. Brooch was worn by Frances Ann Thruston Ballard (1826-1896) and contained the hair of 4 of her children who lived to maturity; Charles, Abby, S. Thruston and Rogers Clark Ballard Thruston .
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1995_7_2_4.jpeg

    Possibly contains the hair of George Wallace Alcorn who was a Confederate who was a Prisoner of War. Alcorn was a member of Morgan's Raiders captured in Ohio.
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1982_13_9_1.jpeg

    Lyre shaped pendant made of hair and gold. Collected by Robert Schmitt who was a jeweler for Drake Jewelry.
  • https://filsonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/1982_13_14_1.jpeg

    Oval gold pendant with two out rings, one engraved and one twisted gold, containing two locks of hair. Collected by Robert Schmitt who was a jeweler for Drake Jewelry.
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