Common Threads: Fiber Arts in 1850s Waterford
The Waterford Historical Society will hold its first Second Saturday event in the Society’s historic buildings and on Jordan Green. “Common Threads” offers reenactments by the Dirty Blue Shirts historians’ collective sharing their knowledge and demonstrations of local culture, fiber arts from samplers to sails, everyday history, sheep farming and more. Bringing the past to life of those who lived and learned in the mid 1800’s in Waterford, the event is for adults and children alike and is free and open to the public. Donations to the Society are always gratefully accepted.
Needlework, quilting, samplers and ropemaking
Rebecca Bayreuther Donohue of the Dirty Blue Shirts, portraying widow Lydia Beebe whose sailor husband, Albert, was lost at sea, will be in the Beebe-Phillips House to mingle with visitors and tell them of her life. Her husband’s demise left her with their son, Orrin, born in 1836, so Mrs. Beebe took to sewing to make a living for herself and her young child.
Carrying through with the seafaring nature of the Beebe family men, sitting by the “try pot” in front of the Jordan Park House another historian will portray a sailor sharing knowledge of canvas sails and natural fiber rigging with “Textiles at Sea: The Science of Natural Fibers.”
Near the 1740 Jordan Schoolhouse, a school teacher will discuss needlework samplers, referencing original samplers found in the Beebe-Phillips House, and another historian will expound on quilting and quilt-making. The schoolhouse will be open for tours.
Upstairs in the Stacy Barn across the blue bridge, visitors can learn more about the sometimes-strange-looking but important implements of Waterford’s farming past, among them yokes, rakes, hay balers, and corn shuckers. Waterford once was home to more than 100 dairy farms, with familiar local family names as Dimmock, Radway, and Steward among them.
Blacksmith demonstrations
The Ralph Madara Blacksmith Shop will be open to observe the blacksmiths at work, and their hand-forged items will be for sale.
Admission
65 Rope Ferry Road
Jordan Green
Waterford CT, 06385
