Woman's Underbodice

Clothing/Dress/Costume

-

Historic Germantown

Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin (1856-1923)

Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin (1856-1923)

Name/Title

Woman's Underbodice

Entry/Object ID

CW 1039

Description

Chemise. Lady's hand-made chemise or underbodice; Homespun linen; scoop neck; full 3/4-length sleeves; gathers to cuff. The initials: "A. W" embroidered on front. Card attached to catalog record: "Kate Wiggin's shift." No condition given. Circa 1825.. Transcribed from Original Catalog Worksheet.

Collection

Germantown Historical Society Objects

Made/Created

Date made

circa 1825

Place

* Untyped Place

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Provenance

Notes

Owner: Card attached to catalog record: "Kate Wiggin's shift." "Kate Douglas Wiggin (September 28, 1856 – August 24, 1923) was an American educator and author of children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878 (the Silver Street Free Kindergarten). With her sister during the 1880s, she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Kate Wiggin devoted her adult life to the welfare of children in an era when children were commonly thought of as cheap labor. "Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of lawyer Robert N. Smith, and of Welsh descent. Kate herself experienced a happy childhood, even though it was coloured by the American Civil War and her father's death. Kate and her sister Nora were still quite young when their widowed mother moved her little family from Philadelphia to Portland, Maine, then, three years later, upon her remarriage, to the little village of Hollis. There Kate matured in rural surroundings, with her sister and her new baby brother, Philip." (Source: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Douglas_Wiggin) Item was given by the donor of CW 1039 who was possibly a descendant of Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin.