Projects: Research

ArcGIS StoryMap: "She Carries on the Book-Binding": A Material Culture Analysis of Ann Wood, Bookbinder

As part of the curriculum for Prof. Sarah McCartney's Spring 2022 class "Field School in Public History", I researched and created an ArcGIS StoryMap based on print advertisements and documents relating to the life and trade of Ann Wood, a bookbinder and stationer in eighteenth-century Charleston. This project involved extensive research in the MESDA Craftsman Database and various digital newspaper archives. By combining a material culture approach to my research and understanding of print culture and taking into context what is and is not typically included in an archive, I aimed to "re-people" Ann Wood's shop and the spaces that she and the people she enslaved occupied.

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Story Map: Adam and Fanny's World, for the Bray School Lab

During my time as a Student Thought Partner at the Bray School Lab, one of the Lab projects I contributed to was the development of a digital "Story Map" that centered on the lives of Adam and Fanny, two enslaved children who attended the Bray School in 1769. The goal of this project was to creatively (re)imagine how Adam, Fanny, and the other students at the Bray School may have experienced Williamsburg, connecting their experiences in the past to landmarks that visitors and residents are familiar with in the present. This digital project was released to the public in the fall of 2022.

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Bray School Lab Blog: "Who Knows What You May Be"

At the conclusion of my time at the Bray School Lab, I wrote a blog post reflecting upon the process of making Adam and Fanny's World and the research associated with it. I also placed the "Story Map" in the context of the Bray Lab as a public-history centered project, where the documents, projects, and research that we work on is often specifically presented in ways that make it accessible and understandable to public audiences. This blog was published in the fall of 2022 alongside the "Story Map" and other Bray Lab transcription projects.

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Photo by Grace Helmick.

Projects: Creative

Storytelling Through Song and Art with Crankies: "Pretty Saro", "The Bantry Girls' Lament", and "Siuil A Run"

During the fall of 2016, I was introduced by a friend to the magical, multi-dimensional experience of making and sharing "crankies" - an art form based on nineteenth-century rolling panoramas and folk art techniques. My first full-length crankie was set to the Irish ballad "The Bantry Girls' Lament" and finished in time for the 2017 Crankie Festival in Confluence, PA. Since that first project, I have finished two other crankies and started several others that remain in-progress due to my degree and the 2020 pandemic. Through crankies I have found a way to combine my deep love of folk songs and balladry with art and immersive experiences to share stories.

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Sewing Through the Centuries: Hand- and Machine-Sewing from the Eighteenth Century to the Present

For over a decade I have been steadily teaching myself to sew, both by hand and by machine. Starting with machine-sewn doll clothes for my sister and I, I have since branched out into hand-sewn modern wear, historical garments from several different eras, and the occasional bag or pillow. This long journey has taught me much in the way of patience and planning far beyond basic textile manipulation skills. As I begin to progress in drafting, draping, and designing more complex items, I hope to incorporate more in the way of decorative elements such as embroidery, patchwork, and block printing where possible. All block printed patches here were made by Addie Best of Addie Best Studio and purchased by me.

The back neckline of a hand-sewn t-shirt, featuring a block printed patch made by Addie Best Studio.

Mary Hannah in her college graduation dress, a By Hand London "Hannah" dress both machine- and hand-sewn in two different colors of linen.

The back of the linen "Hannah" dress.

A detail shot of the front ties of the linen "Hannah" dress and the hand-sewn bias neckline.

A detail shot of the hand-applied block print patch on the underskirt portion of the dress, also made by Addie Best Studio.

Mary Hannah wearing a coral red linen dress inspired by both folk-clothing and sixteenth-century kirtles, hand-sewn from a Folkwear pattern.

A detail of the front of the red linen folk-dress, including vintage floral trim and worn with a pink linen hand-sewn t-shirt.

A detail shot of the hand-sewn decorative stitching at the neckline of the linen folk-dress.

Mary Hannah wearing a set of mid-eighteenth century clothing that she sewed by hand, while holding her finished eighteenth-century bound book.

Mary Hannah in a different hand-sewn set of eighteenth-century clothing, featuring an indigo linen "English Gown" and maroon wool petticoat.

A closer image of the front of the indigo linen English gown.

Mary Hannah in mid-conversation, wearing a pumpkin orange linen sarafan dress that she sewed by hand, with additional hand-applied linen tape trim. (With purchased inkle loom belt.)

A detail shot of the linen trim applied on the orange sarafan dress, as well as its accompanying hand-sewn blue-checked linen shirt (also trimmed with linen tape).

The back of a simple gathered hand-sewn linen shift dress, featuring another block printed Addie Best Studio patch.

The front of the hand-sewn linen shift dress.

The back neckline of a hand-sewn t-shirt, featuring a block printed patch made by Addie Best Studio.

Mary Hannah in her college graduation dress, a By Hand London "Hannah" dress both machine- and hand-sewn in two different colors of linen.

The back of the linen "Hannah" dress.

A detail shot of the front ties of the linen "Hannah" dress and the hand-sewn bias neckline.

A detail shot of the hand-applied block print patch on the underskirt portion of the dress, also made by Addie Best Studio.

Mary Hannah wearing a coral red linen dress inspired by both folk-clothing and sixteenth-century kirtles, hand-sewn from a Folkwear pattern.

A detail of the front of the red linen folk-dress, including vintage floral trim and worn with a pink linen hand-sewn t-shirt.

A detail shot of the hand-sewn decorative stitching at the neckline of the linen folk-dress.

Mary Hannah wearing a set of mid-eighteenth century clothing that she sewed by hand, while holding her finished eighteenth-century bound book.

Paper, Pen, and Ink: Bookbinding and Printmaking Projects

While I have a wide variety of creative interests, I have found myself returning most often to those that involve paper and the construction of various things from it. Since early 2020, I have been exploring relief printmaking as another medium through which to express myself and create items to share with my family, friends, and others. Many of the subjects I have been drawn to are the various animals and geographic locales that comprise the environment I live in. Ducks are heavily featured here, in reference to the ducklings I raised while completing a year and a half of college from home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series of photographs also includes a small sample of the projects I worked on while interning at the Book Bindery in Colonial Williamsburg, including my personal book (featured on the top of the stack in one of the photographs), a copious amount of decorative paste-paper and stitch books, and a few pamphlets.