Lunch and Learn – Darned, Patched, and Mended: Repairing Textiles in 18th Century America

All things will one day break. In early America, this rule also held true, as material items regularly and repeatedly broke, and required repair work for continued use and preservation. Textiles—perhaps the most ubiquitous, valuable, and fragile materials in early America—are no exception. But what can a darned stocking, a patched pair of breeches, or a mended foresail tell us about early America, and why are textile repair practices worthy of notice?

In this virtual presentation, New England Regional Fellowship Consortium (NERFC) Fellow Emily Whitted will utilize examples from her research in the museum and archival collections at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History to investigate the history of textile repair in early America. By locating textile repair inside early American homes and workshops, on the decks of ships, and inside military camps, she will explore mending as both a labor practice and a historical model for caring deeply, whether through economic necessity or sentiment, for the things around us.

This virtual presentation is free and open to the public. Click here to register.