The Creativity Loophole: Needlework, Social Conventions, and the Permissibility of Creative Expression for Early American Women

This thesis investigates creative expression through needlework by wealthy or elite women in the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century, focusing on women in the United States South. This inquiry begins in broad terms and proceeds to the close examination of one particular needlework sampler held in the collection of the Valentine Richmond History Center. The first chapter uses prescriptive literature popular in the eighteenth century to establish the restrictive, obedient, and subservient expectations for women’s behavior. The second chapter explores the reasons that the same books that prohibited many forms of pleasure promoted needlework as an acceptable activity for women. This chapter addresses the practical aspect of needlework, the presence and significance of textiles in the home, and the ways needlework expressed creativity. The final chapter analyzes a needlework sampler stitched in 1812, connecting it both with the themes introduced in the first two chapters and a wider range of issues.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Year dc:date.available

2010

Author dc:creator

• Graham, Alyce

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sarah Meacham

• needlework
• sampler
• Richmond Theatre Fire
• Arts and Humanities
• History

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/141

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1140