Library Company of Philadelphia
Ask
Welcome to the Library Company of Philadelphia's Tumblr page! Founded by Ben Franklin in 1731, we are an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries. This page highlights materials from LCP's extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, broadsides, ephemera, prints, photographs, and works of art.
Emily Bell created these needlework samplers to fulfill a homework assignment while she was a student at Bethlehem Female Seminary, circa 1830. The sampler includes examples of buttonhole, hemming, and pin-tuck stitches, measuring between 2-4 inches. #TinyTuesday
Bell, Emily. Homework Sampler. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Ca. 1830. Between 2-4 inches.
This image from our Marriott C. Morris Collection shows women at work at the House of Industry, a shelter founded in 1846 by the Philadelphia Society for Employment & Instruction of the Poor where immigrant and homeless men and women worked making shoes, clothing, rugs, baskets and brushes.