"Man's work is sun to sun, but women's work is never done."
A young girl starts on her journey to womanhood with cross-stitched samplers, progressing and acquiring skills in crocheting, knitting, embroidery, spinning, weaving, sewing, tatting, quilting, and other crafts based on textiles. There are many American-made examples in the Bayou Bend collection of MFAH, collected by Ima Hogg.
One of the most poignant, unusual and Houston-significant of these is a large oval cloth, hand-painted and embroidered with the inscription, "Phillis Wheatley Negro Servant to John Wheatley of Boston MDCCLXXIII." It is a tribute to the first African-American female published poet. The original image was an engraving circa 1773 attributed to Scipio Moorhead, an enslaved African-American man.
Phillis Wheatley High School, the first high school for blacks in Houston, was named for her.
oh god so good Rainey, thanks for sharing. I often get so many emails that I miss your posts...but whenever I am able to click on one to see what you are writing about, I am always so glad I did.
Aw, thank you Marcie. I also send out a weekly recap if the daily emails are too much (I can relate). Instructions for switching to the Sunday recap here (scroll down):
"Man's work is sun to sun, but women's work is never done."
A young girl starts on her journey to womanhood with cross-stitched samplers, progressing and acquiring skills in crocheting, knitting, embroidery, spinning, weaving, sewing, tatting, quilting, and other crafts based on textiles. There are many American-made examples in the Bayou Bend collection of MFAH, collected by Ima Hogg.
One of the most poignant, unusual and Houston-significant of these is a large oval cloth, hand-painted and embroidered with the inscription, "Phillis Wheatley Negro Servant to John Wheatley of Boston MDCCLXXIII." It is a tribute to the first African-American female published poet. The original image was an engraving circa 1773 attributed to Scipio Moorhead, an enslaved African-American man.
Phillis Wheatley High School, the first high school for blacks in Houston, was named for her.
Here is a link to the MFAH object:
https://emuseum.mfah.org/objects/76996
and a link to the original print in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a detailed description:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/396463
oh god so good Rainey, thanks for sharing. I often get so many emails that I miss your posts...but whenever I am able to click on one to see what you are writing about, I am always so glad I did.
Yesterday I got a note from a friend about a new film- 'The Sound of Falling' This comes to mind after reading your words. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/movies/sound-of-falling-mascha-schilinski.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ElA.GHd4.EiQyJgUm539a&smid=url-share
Aw, thank you Marcie. I also send out a weekly recap if the daily emails are too much (I can relate). Instructions for switching to the Sunday recap here (scroll down):
https://raineyknudson.substack.com/p/announcing-the-american-250
And that film sounds incredible.