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Watch how the tapestry is created here!
 ilgrim Hall Museum’s Plymouth Tapestry is an ongoing multi-year arts project to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Plymouth Colony’s founding in hand-crafted needlework. This heroically-scaled embroidery is the vision of artist Elizabeth Creeden of Wellingsley Studio, Plymouth, who trains and works with a dedicated team of local volunteer stitchers on its creation.
A visual exploration of history, memory, and culture, the Plymouth Tapestry illustrates the experiences of the Wampanoag people who inhabited the region for thousands of years, and the Pilgrims, the English settlers who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 to establish a new home. Stitched in wool and silk on linen, the Tapestry is comprised of twenty 6-foot-long panels, each one narrating through imagery and text the contexts and events that shaped Plymouth Colony’s beginnings.
Germinating from an idea shared by Pilgrim Hall Museum Trustee Denise De More, and inspired by the 1,000-year-old legacy of the Bayeux Tapestry, the historical embroidery project was embraced as an impactful way to engage Plymouth’s 400th anniversary commemoration. The project also connected with Pilgrim Hall Museum’s collection, which includes the oldest known example of North American needlework, the 17th-century girlhood sampler of Loara Standish of Plymouth.
Renowned needlework expert Elizabeth Creeden has helmed the project since its inception. Through an intensive process of research and consultation, Creeden develops each panel design and draws the scene by hand. Guided by her extensive knowledge of historical needlework, she works closely on content design with Museum staff and a range of specialists, including Aquinnah Wampanoag educator Linda Coombs, Plymouth historian James W. Baker, and Museum Director Dr. Donna Curtin. When completed, the 120-ft. long Tapestry will present a multi-cultural view of Plymouth Colony’s beginnings, with scenes representing both Indigenous and Pilgrim experiences, all stitched entirely by hand.
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Two never before displayed completed panels of the Plymouth Tapestry will be shown as part of the Real/Mythic: People of Early Plymouth exhibition at Pilgrim Hall Museum, opening summer 2023 to December 2024. The full Tapestry will featured in a special exhibition at the Museum on completion of this multi-year project. Visit our Facebook pages for Pilgrim Hall Museum and The Plymouth Tapestry for latest news and updates!
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The Plymouth Tapestry is made possible by the generous support of:
The Coby Foundation
The Bruce and Patricia Bartlett Foundation
The Neil and Anna
Rasmussen Foundation
The Barbara V. Watson Charitable Fund
John & Gretchen Moran
Rosamund Zander
Anne & Ben Brewster
Lamora Haidar, Access Commodities
Denise DeMore & Peter Keohan
Gregory & Deborah Eldredge White
Jae Dunn
David & Marylaine Hobson
Terry & Barbara Dane
Denise Stowell
Joy Cobb
Diane G. Keller
Kathie Woolard
The Allan and Judith Sherman Fund
Tiny & Sons Auto Glass
Tudor Rose Sampler Guild
The Mayflower Sampler Guild
Plymouth CRAFT Inc.
Trustworth Studios, David E. Berman
Wellingsley Studio
Additional support provided by:
Amy Annis
Anonymous
American Needlework Guild - Cape Cod Chapter
Karen Baker
Shirley Baer & Ann Fasano, In memory of Nancy Corcoran
Jan Blanchard
Benjamin Brewster, In Honor of Ben & Anne Brewster
William Brewster
Margaret Briggs
Theresa Brophy
Frimma Buckland
Celebration of Needlework
Curtis Chin
Jean Chisser
Judith Cole
Peter Crawley
Jane Davidson
Virginia Davis
Viriato DeMacedo
Hope DeSimone
Roslyn Diamond
Tracy Drew
Ron Elowitz
Embroiderers Guild of America
Cynthia Fischer
Ruth Fry
Kris Gaskins
Linda Gill
Sgt. William Harlow
Judith Herrick
Liz & Jim Hester
Ronnie Hirschhorn
Linda Hylander
Catherine Kennedy
Sally & Richard Lane
William Lawrence
Patricia Loop
Marcus McGraw
Greg Moler
Patty Moriarty
Virginia Muccaccio
Everard Munsey
Ron Nickerson
Sharon Hill Paugh
Marie Pelletier
Marilyn Prado
Jane Ricardi
Roger & Janet Ritch
Pamela Ritter
Olga Rothschild
Barbara Shearer
Lee Smith & Kristine Herrick
Kathleen Marie Smith-Olson
Margaret St. John
Nancy Stetson
Roy & Candace Stillerman
Emily Style
Tristan Brooks - The Enchanted Needle
Charles & Martha Vautrain
Maria Vilanova
Darice Wareham
Vivian Wilson
Lydia & Tom Zimmer
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