The Filson Historical Society Digital Projects

Browse Items (25 total)

  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/1913_1_19.jpg

    A piece of tow linen (has a coarse texture) used for a bedtick, a bag shaped mattress stuffed with feathers and straw. Likely the fiber for this coverlet was cultivated on the family farm. Another textile from this family came with a note stating that according to family narrative that the flax was grown, spun, and woven by enslaved persons on the Winton Plantation. Elizabeth and/or an enslaved person may have spun the fiber at home, then it was likely turned over to an enslaved weaver.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/1913_1_27-copy.jpg

    An 'M's & O's' patterned sheet made of linen and cotton. The family narratives for this linen sheet states that it was made in 1816 by Betsy Breckinridge Meredith, sister of John Breckinridge. Family narrative also states the flax was grown, spun, and woven by enslaved people on the Winton Plantation. Enslaved women and men were skilled spinners, weavers, and seamstress on the frontier. Their skilled labor made life easier and more comfortable for their enslavers.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/1935_4_overton.jpg

    According to family narrative, this bed sheet was made by an enslaved weaver using flax that was grown on Dabney Carr Overton's farm in Fayette County, Kentucky. In 1830, Overton enslaved thirty-two persons, including twenty female children and adults. Enslaved women were skilled spinners, weavers, and seamstresses, whose skills provided comfort for the families that enslaved them.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/1947_2_26.jpg

    Samplers were a staple in the education of girls, designed to teach needlework skills needed for household duties. Samples could be symbolic of the girl's culture, religion, social class, or personal accomplishments. Sampler making was seen as the ground work for civic, social, and familial responsibility. This was made by Abigail Prather Churchill the daughter of Abigail Pope Oldham Churchill (1789-1854), around age 11-13 at Nazareth Academy (which is near Bardstown, KY).
  • 1964_5.JPG

    Hank of wool from Buchanan, Kentucky. Sheep were among the early domesticated animals brought to Kentucky. Home production of wool increased during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 due to trade embargos. Free and enslaved women prepared and spun the wool into a usable yarn. They used the yarn for knitting, or it was taken to a professional weaver (free or enslaved person) who turned it into cloth. Wool was often woven with cotton or hemp in early Kentucky textiles. Approximately 4/12 lbs. of spun wool were needed to make a single blanket. Wool cloth was also sewn into clothing by women.
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