The Rhode Island Sampler Initiative (RISI) was launched in 2015 to locate, photograph, and document all American samplers and related needlework pictures in the public and private collections of the state, for inclusion in the Sampler Archive Project’s online database of American samplers. Previous partnerships with Rhode Island museums had resulted in the documentation of 100 samplers at the Rhode Island Historical Society and approximately 75 at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, both in Providence. State coordinator for the Rhode Island Sampler Initiative was Dr. Blaire Gagnon, faculty at the University of Rhode Island. With a small award from the University of Rhode Island’s Center for Humanities, Dr. Gagnon was able to conduct an email survey of the state’s other cultural and historical institutions. Responses revealed the existence of more than 190 additional samplers. In March 2015, the University of Rhode Island (URI) and the Sampler Consortium hosted a full-day Sampler Documentation Workshop conducted by Dr. Lynne Anderson that drew 24 participants from across the state, as well as Massachusetts and New Jersey. The goal was to provide training to volunteers who would then be able to help document Rhode Island samplers for inclusion in the Sampler Archive online database.
In 2016, Dr. Gagnon and Susan Jerome, Collections Manager of the University of Rhode Island’s Historic Textile and Costume Collection wrote a grant proposal to the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities requesting funds to support sampler identification and documentation efforts in “South County,” the southernmost county in Rhode Island, legally known as Washington County. The grant proposal was successful and funds from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities supported four Sampler Identification and Documentation Days (Sampler ID Days): two hosted by the University of Rhode Island in South Kingstown, one by the South County Museum in Narragansett, and one by the Babcock Smith House Museum in Westerly, which also served as the project’s fiscal agent. A total of 114 samplers and related schoolgirl embroideries were photographed and documented at these events.
As part of the “South County Sampler Initiative” RISI state coordinators Blaire Gagnon and Susan Jerome conducted multiple presentations for the public on schoolgirl samplers. These included the following:
- September 25, 2016: Samplers and their Role in our Culture and Folklore, sponsored by the Babcock Smith House Museum, Westerly, RI.
- May 13 and May 21, 2017: Sampling Histories Mysteries, sponsored by the South County Museum, Narragansett, RI.
- June 4, 2017: This Needlework of Mine: Historic Schoolgirl Samplers in RI, sponsored by the Babcock Smith House Museum, Westerly, RI.
In November of 2019, the Sampler Consortium hosted a four-day retreat in Hopkinton, RI to finalize the documentation of samplers from the collections of the University of Rhode Island and the RISD Museum of Art. Twelve members of the Sampler Consortium gathered for the four-day event, and succeeded in completing the documentation of nearly 100 samplers for inclusion in the Sampler Archive’s online database.
Building on the results of the Rhode Island Sampler Initiative in general and its focus on South County specifically, The Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum (GSBM) in Saunderstown, RI invited the Sampler Consortium to help plan an exhibition of samplers for its 2024 season. Titled Embroidered Lives: South County Samplers and Their Stories, the exhibition was curated by Dr. Lynne Anderson, now president of the Sampler Consortium International, and Margaret O’Connor, former Executive Director of the GSBM. On display from April 28 to October 13, 2024 were more than 30 samplers either made by South County girls or made by girls who married into well-known South County families.
The samplers were grouped and discussed around four themes: (a) Introduction to Schoolgirl Samplers; (b) Schools and Teachers; (c) All in the Family; and (d) Quaker Connections. A full color, 145-page exhibition catalog was produced to accompany the exhibition and it is on sale in the Sampler Consortium International shop. In addition, volunteers from the Sampler Consortium hosted a Sampler ID at the museum on May 18, 2024 and Lynne Anderson conducted a presentation and gallery tour of the Embroidered Lives exhibition on May 19.
Another opportunity to showcase the work of the Rhode Island Sampler Initiative emerged in 2026. At the request of the Hopkinton Historical Association, Dr. Lynne Anderson curated a small exhibition of fourteen samplers with ties to the town of Hopkinton in South County and its five villages. Titled ‘This I did to let you see:’ Threads of Literacy and Learning on Hopkinton Samplers, the exhibition showcases 14 of the 21samplers known to have been made by girls living in Hopkinton. The exhibition opened May 3, 2026 and the samplers will remain on display until October 11, 2026.
