Ta Da
February 27th, 2011
Finally, I’ve finished something.
The armband I designed for the 146+ Triangle Fire Memorial is ready to be mailed. I am very pleased with the way the roses came out. The 77 is harder to read than I’d like, so I outlined it in gold beads. That didn’t do very much either. Oh well. It’s there if you look closely. It’s also much easier to see when you hold the piece up to the light.
I didn’t sew it into a tube since filet is much less elastic than knitting, and I don’t know how big of an arm (or how bulky of a sweater) is going to sport this armband during the festivities on March 25. Instead, I made 5 little crochet loops on one edge, and a set of matching bobble buttons on the other. It’s too big for my little arm, and too small for my husband’s bulging bicep, so hopefully it’s just right.
So, in honor of Kate Leone, I am off to put this into an envelope and get it ready to mail to the organizers.
146 Plus
February 23rd, 2011
On March 25, 2011, New York City will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. 146 people, mostly young immigrant women, died in the sweatshop blaze, in a factory just north of Washington Square Park. In addition to remembering those who died, we’ll also honor the ongoing labor movements that their ordeal inspired.
If you’re not familiar with the story, Ruth Sergel, founder of Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, will be speaking at the Victorian Society on March 8. I hope to attend myself. Then, on March 23, I’ll be speaking at the Merchant’s House on Hand-Sewing in the 1850s — 60 Years before the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
And last, but definitely not least, I (and my dear friend Zoh, among many others) are participating in an art project called 146+. We’ve each signed up to create an armband memorializing one of the victims. I chose 14 year-old Kate Leone, no. 77. She was Catholic, and unlike many of her fellow workers, born in the US.
The organizers of the event suggested that we knit the armbands, but also opened it up to other types of crafting. Since I can never do anything the easy way, I decided to make my armband in filet. Here’s the pattern I made:
And my progress so far.
I hope Kate would approve. I know a lot of 14 year old girls have already outgrown the whole pink thing, and she may have hated roses. But perhaps she would be tolerant considering the spirit in which it is worked.
Photographer & Soldier
February 20th, 2011
Did you know that famed photographer Mathew Brady was an honorary member of New York’s Seventh Regiment National Guard? I didn’t, until last Friday, when I was leafing through my newly arrived copy of The Regiment that Saved the Capital.
Brady had an elegantly appointed studio at Broadway and 8th Street, just around the corner from Cooper Union (where Lincoln gave his famous “Right Makes Might” speech literally hours after Brady took the portrait that helped win the 1860 election). And Cooper Union was just across the street from the new Seventh Regiment Armory*, erected in the late 1850s and home to the Regiment from 1860 to 1880.
The Seventh Regiment was organized in 1806 as a unit of the Volunteer Militia. Also known as the Silk Stocking Regiment, it was populated by scions of the City’s leading families. New York’s Seventh Regiment was the darling of the City, and the nation. Although they didn’t see any real action during the Civil War, their gallant march to reinforce the Capital in April 1861 (just at the beginning of the war) is credited with inspiring much of the bravery and sacrifice that followed.
From the United States National Archive
No wonder that Brady, one of the most famous photographers then and still (thanks in part to his work during the Civil War), was sought by the elite Seventh Regiment. And no wonder that Brady was ready to ally himself with the North’s star regiment. Needless to say, Brady took a number of photographs of his fellow guardsmen, including this stereoscopic view of the men lounging outside their tent. I only wish I had a stereopticon plug-in for my blog.
*Interesting note about the 7th Regiment Armory building — the Regiment only occupied the higher floors. The ground floor belonged to the Tompkins farmers market! What an interesting juxtaposition that must have been.