Vermont Public is independent, community-supported media, serving Vermont with trusted, relevant and essential information. We share stories that bring people together, from every corner of our region. New to Vermont Public? Start here.

© 2024 Vermont Public | 365 Troy Ave. Colchester, VT 05446

Public Files:
WVTI · WOXM · WVBA · WVNK · WVTQ · WVTX
WVPR · WRVT · WOXR · WNCH · WVPA
WVPS · WVXR · WETK · WVTB · WVER
WVER-FM · WVLR-FM · WBTN-FM

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@vermontpublic.org or call 802-655-9451.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Explore our coverage of government and politics.

Rooker For Women's History Month: Acts Of Craftivism

Sue Pitiger
/
Norwich Historical Society
A hand-knit pink pussy hat adorns the Norwich welcome sign in recognition of the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March.";

On the first anniversary of the Women’s March, Norwich residents woke to find a giant pink pussy hat atop the welcome sign at the entrance to town. It was an act of craftivism in keeping with a long tradition of Norwich women speaking their minds through handwork and craft. And it reminded me of another group of ladies who had assembled at the Norwich Congregational Church in 1843, to hear a speech about American slavery.

Afterwards, 34 women formed the Norwich Female Abolition Society, taking a stand against slavery and gathering monthly at each other’s homes, often quilting or sewing while one member read anti-slavery newspapers or fugitive slave narratives.

Gathered by the fire, heads bent together, they discussed what to do with their handwork. One bundle of clothing was sent to Ontario for fugitives beginning new lives. Canada was experiencing a real refugee crisis, and the ladies were glad to find a way to help.

They also sent clothing to a clergyman in Troy, NY, who was supporting fugitives heading north through the city. And they sympathized with a woman from Illinois, whose husband was imprisoned for assisting fugitives, and had no way of supporting herself. They sent her two bed quilts.

This work was not without complications, however, and not everyone in Norwich agreed with their sentiments. The cotton thread and fabric they purchased for their benevolent work was most likely slave produced, and Norwich account books confirm that some of their supplies came from the South.

Then too, at that time Norwich University was located just across the street from the homes where the Society met – and Norwich had students from the South. In fact, archives reveal that one young Virginian instructed his mother to hire out a family slave to augment funds he needed to pay his Norwich bills.

Strands of ethics, economics, empathy, and craft were a tangled web, but the Norwich women spun them into cloth that they bound into quilts for those in need. They made a difference in peoples’ lives, while taking a stand for their beliefs in a way that was appropriate for their era.

175 years later, knitting pink pussy hats took place by the fire in some of the same rooms where clothing and quilts had been sewn.

Proving that taking a stand in Norwich matters - both then and now.

Sarah Rooker attended the College of William and Mary and went on to receive an MA in history and completed her doctoral exams at the University of New Hampshire. She worked with Laurel Ulrich and Laurie Kahn-Leavitt on the documentary film, A Midwife’s Tale. Sarah also worked as a museum educator in Maine and Vermont. While in Maine, she edited the NEH-funded publication, A Noble and Dignified Stream: The Piscataqua Region in the Colonial Revival (1992). Formerly the Educator for the Vermont Historical Society, she has also directed the Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance, as well as the Flow of History, a professional development program for teachers since 2004. She now directs the Norwich Historical Society.
Latest Stories