Cross-Stitch Alphabet Sampler

By embroidering these pieces of cloth, young girls in mid-19th-century America learned the alphabet and numbers, as well as mastered the basic needlework stitches needed to meet household needs. In contrast to their European counterparts, American girls were encouraged to devise pleasing border patterns and incorporate additional imagery on their samplers. Many included information about them-selves, their family’s genealogy, images of home, and passages from the Bible. These records of early American female education were often displayed with pride in the family home as a symbol of a young woman’s accomplishments.