Westwood Historical Society Presents “Colonial Boston Embroidery: Fashioning an Education”

On Tuesday, November 8th at 7:30 PM at the Fisher
Schoolhouse, the Westwood Historical Society will present the program “Colonial Boston Embroidery: Fashioning an Education” with
featured speaker Emily Banis.

Wealthy colonists sent their daughters from as far as
Connecticut and Northampton to be educated in Boston. A rare find at the
Massachusetts Historical Society neatly titled "School Day Schedule"
outlines a day in the life of an 18th century girl from morning prayers to
lessons, visits with friends, and even elaborate descriptions of their meals.
Parents used documents such as this to carefully choose which schools,
teachers, and boarding houses best suited their girls. With support from
letters, diaries, maps, and stories told by surviving embroideries (many of
which have been displayed in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts three Colonial
Boston Embroidery exhibitions), Emily Banis will weave together the story
of colonial Boston education in an exciting illustrated presentation that will
take you back to the streets of "the hub" in the years leading up to
the American Revolution.

Emily Banis is Fashion
Program Director and Associate Professor at Fisher College. She is currently
pursuing a Ph.D. in Humanities at Salve Regina University.