1826 Ann L. West sampler (TSS 156)
The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County is pleased to announce the opening of the traveling exhibit,
Tennessee Samplers: 19th Century Schoolgirl Embroidery. The exhibit will be on view at The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County in Murfreesboro from Tuesday, Oct. 4, to Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. The exhibit will subsequently tour the state, traveling to the Arts Center of Cannon County (Woodbury), the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum (Athens), and the Etowah Arts Commission.
Since 2004, the Tennessee Sampler Survey has been documenting 19th century embroidery. Twenty Tennessee samplers were selected for the exhibit, each from a different county. The exhibit presents the samplers on full-sized panels; the actual samplers are not part of this exhibit due to their fragility. Five text panels, explaining the work of the Tennessee Sampler Survey and the regional characteristics of the samplers, are also part of the exhibit. The travelling exhibit is funded in part by the
Tennessee Arts Commission, CBRL Group Foundation, and the LifeWorks Foundation.
Co-curators Jennifer Core and Janet Hasson will lecture on their research at the exhibit opening on Tuesday evening, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. Original samplers including the 1831 Minerva Ann Elam (Harpeth Female Academy) sampler from Oaklands Historic House Museum, the 1831 Mildred A. F. Nelson sampler from the Sam Davis Home and Museum, and the 1826 Ann L. West (Murfreesboro Female Academy) sampler from the private collection of Dr. E. C. Tolbert will be on display the evening of the lecture. Admission to the exhibit and lecture is free.
The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County is open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 3 pm. The Heritage Center is located at 225 West College Street, Murfreesboro. For more information, call 615- 217-8013, email
heritage@mtsu.edu, or visit
www.hcmrc.org.
The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County is a joint venture between the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Main Street: Murfreesboro/Rutherford County, the City of Murfreesboro, and the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU. Additional support comes from Rutherford County government and State Farm Insurance.
