The Paul Revere Pottery was a woman-run American art pottery founded during the Progressive Era in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. It emerged as a subgroup of the Saturday Evening Girls Club (S.E.G.). The library group was started and guided by Edith Guerrier , a librarian; her partner, Edith Brown , an artist; and Helen Osborne Storrow , the financial patron of the group. The Saturday Evening Girls Club was established in 1899, and located in Boston's North End . The group aimed to serve as an intellectual and social hub for young immigrant girls that otherwise had very few economic, educational, or social opportunities due to cultural differences . Paul Revere Pottery was established in the early twentieth century. The pottery gained national and international recognition.
47-580: Facilitated by Guerrier, the Saturday Evening Girls Club was a Progressive era reading group consisting of young Jewish and Italian working women. The group met at the North Bennet Street Industrial School (NBSIS), a community charity building that provided educational opportunities and training in vocational skills for both boys and girls. Much like other groups and charity organizations of the era,
94-611: A branch at North Bennet Street Industrial School in 1899, with Edith Guerrier serving as librarian. Guerrier started evening discussion groups that, with the help of Edith Brown, developed into the Saturday Evening Girls Club. Alvin E. Dodd was hired as the first professional administrator of the school in 1907. Dodd divided the school into several departments: plastic and graphic arts, mechanical arts, household arts, library, gymnasium, clubs, social service house, and buildings and administration. Each department
141-555: A four-story brick building in the North End , located on Hull Street. The Library Club House, or Hull House as it was often called, was very near to the Old North Church. The iconic church, where Paul Revere had hung his lantern, inspired the pottery's name: Paul Revere Pottery. The S.E.G. had to seek much of their own funding to support the pottery and maintain themselves through the accomplishments they had cultivated as
188-431: A group. S.E.G. secured funds through musical performance, reciting dialogues and plays, and poetry readings to wealthy members of the community and at different institutional galas and socials. The prices of the wares produced by the pottery were only affordable to middle or upper class families; Storrow subsidized the wares. By 1914, Storrow's philanthropy had new aims with different organizations and concerns. She gave
235-500: A philanthropic philosophy of "elevation by contact", the Associated Charities volunteers sought to improve the circumstances of the poor through visitation and by way of example. The volunteers taught sewing and laundry classes to those they called the "worthy poor": widows, single women, and women supporting their husbands. Class participants received instruction and wages for piece work. Pauline Agassiz Shaw joined
282-684: A range of short courses and continuing education opportunities. Housed for more than 130 years at 39 North Bennet Street, near the Old North Church in Boston's North End , the School completed renovations on the former Police Station One and former City of Boston Printing Plant in September 2013. The subsequent move to the fully renovated 65,000 sq. ft. facility at 150 North Street brought all of their programs under one roof. Founded in 1879 as
329-821: A salesperson and eventually became the manager of the pottery's Washington, D.C. store. Galner stayed on at the pottery until 1921, when she married Morris Bloom. Over 130 ceramic works decorated by Galner are included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston . North Bennet Street School North Bennet Street School ( NBSS ) is a private vocational school in Boston , Massachusetts . NBSS offers nine full-time programs, including bookbinding , cabinet and furniture making, carpentry , jewelry making and repair, locksmithing and security technology, basic piano technology , advanced piano technology, preservation carpentry, and violin making and repair, as well as
376-479: A significantly higher rate than the native-born women surrounding them. While on vacation in Europe in 1906, Guerrier and Brown were inspired by the folk work of peasant artisans. The connection, economically and culturally, between the artisans and the women of S.E.G. seemed strong to Guerrier and Brown: We spoke of making marmalade, or fruitcake, of hemming napkins and dishtowels, and finally we spoke of pottery, of
423-630: Is remembered on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail . In 2014, her work was included with that of Alice Austin , Sara Galner, Edith Guerrier , Ethel Reed , and Mary H. Northend in an exhibit at the Boston University Art Gallery titled Craft & Modernity: Professional Women Artists in Boston (1890-1920). One of the pottery's most celebrated artists was Sara Galner (1894–1982), a Jewish Austro-Hungarian immigrant who worked there for over ten years. Galner migrated to
470-711: The Black Heritage Trail . Women mentioned include: Women mentioned on the Charlestown walk include: The Chinatown/South Cove walk begins at the Boston Common Visitor Center, passes through Chinatown, and ends at Park Square . Women mentioned include: The Uphams Corner walk in Dorchester, developed by students at Codman Academy, is the first in a planned series of Dorchester walks. Women mentioned include: Starting at
517-793: The Public Garden . Women mentioned include: Also mentioned are Fisher College , Simmons College , and the Winsor School . This walk starts at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square and ends at the Boston Women's Memorial on the Commonwealth Avenue mall . Women mentioned include: The Beacon Hill walk begins at the State House and winds through Beacon Hill, often in parallel with
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#1732791826743564-793: The South End , and West Roxbury . It also includes the Artists Walk, which focuses on local women artists, and the Ladies Walk, which commemorates Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone , and Phillis Wheatley. The Artists walk centers on the Back Bay, where many women artists have lived, worked, and exhibited. The walk was designed to complement the 2001 Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston 1870–1940 . Women mentioned include Helen M. Knowlton , Anne Whitney , and others. The Back Bay East walk begins and ends at
611-715: The Lower Roxbury walk include: The North End walk begins at Faneuil Hall, passes through the North End, and ends at St. Leonard's Church , one of the first Italian churches in the U.S. It overlaps at several points with the Freedom Trail. Women mentioned on this walk include: Women mentioned on the Roxbury walk include: The South End walk starts at Back Bay Station and ends at the Boston Center for
658-561: The North End Industrial Home by volunteers from the Associated Charities as a settlement house serving the needs of recent immigrants, North Bennet Street Industrial School was officially incorporated in 1885. The vocational and preparatory programs underwent changes throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century and the school assumed its present name and mission in 1981. The North End Industrial Home
705-572: The North End Union, while continuing administrative and financial support. The board voted to drop "Industrial" from the school's name and rewrote the school's articles of organization so that the objective was to "train adults, who have completed a minimum of secondary level education, in trades that require primarily manual skills and individualized work". The program offerings in carpentry, cabinet and furniture making, locksmithing, jewelry making and repair, and piano technology were expanded in
752-472: The S.E.G. provided social and intellectual stimulation for the young women, exposing them to an array of experience across religious, language, and ethnic divides. Weekly meetings covered subjects ranging from music, literature, economics, job opportunities, and art. Often, prominent members of the Boston community would attend the S.E.G. meetings and give lectures or lead group discussions on a variety of historical and contemporary issues. Involvement in clubs like
799-416: The S.E.G. provided the space to advance women's education in a manner that worked outside of traditional education methods, exposing the young woman to opportunities for socializing without fear of provocation for being female, for being of a specific religious group, or ethnicity. The women participating in S.E.G. stand out from turn of the century women at large, as S.E.G.’s members pursued higher education at
846-444: The S.E.G.s a year to become self-sustaining, provided them with a new building for their expanding pottery business, and then withdrew her financial support in 1915. Paul Revere Pottery continued to flourish for several decades, garnering national and international recognition through features in magazines, journals, and newsletters. At the height of its popularity in the 1910s, the pottery's wares were sold in most major cities throughout
893-646: The State House and ending at the corner of Franklin and Washington Streets, the Downtown walk passes some of Boston's oldest historic sites. Women mentioned include: Women mentioned on the Jamaica Plain walk include: The Ladies Walk celebrates the lives of First Lady Abigail Adams , suffragist Lucy Stone , and poet Phillis Wheatley . It starts at the Boston Women's Memorial on Commonwealth Avenue and ends at Faneuil Hall . Women mentioned on
940-665: The United States with her family in 1901 and grew up on Salem Street in the North End. At the age of 14 she left school to go to work, but continued her education at the Central Evening High School and was active in the Saturday Evening Girls. In 1911 she went to work full-time at the pottery, where her starting salary was $ 7 a week. She quickly distinguished herself as a decorator with a special talent for floral designs. She also worked as
987-478: The United States. 18 Hull Street, the original site of the pottery, is a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail . The earthenware works came in numerous forms, operated at multiple levels of function and utility, and had complex, decorative glaze surfaces. Guerrier and Brown hired a local potter and pottery chemist who had worked in the Merrimac Pottery of Newburyport, Massachusetts , to help set
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#17327918267431034-431: The charming peasant ware of Italy, of Holland, of Germany, and now of Switzerland. Since our club girls were almost all of peasant stock, why not start an art pottery and produce American peasant ware? Guerrier and Brown suspected that once trained, the pottery works sold by the S.E.G.s would provide an opportunity to gain additional income for many of the girls whose endeavors for higher education stood in direct contrast to
1081-537: The clubs and facilities at NBSIS aimed to Americanize the young persons, bridging the cultural gap between immigrant families and Protestant American culture. The multiple reading groups that Guerrier led were organized and named after the day of the week the women met; the Saturday Evening Girls consisting mostly of older girls with responsibilities to their families or who additionally held down jobs. The women of S.E.G. had either immigrated themselves or were born to immigrant parents. Through activities and group discussions,
1128-423: The country were incorporated into the program. The school's 1885 charter defined NBSIS as "an institution for training in industrial occupations persons of all ages, and for other educational and charitable work, and for furnishing opportunities for instruction and amusement to them, including libraries, reading rooms and whatever else may contribute to their physical and moral well being". By 1891, manual training
1175-406: The economic disparity and needs of their families. Brown's art training contributed to solidifying the dream for a pottery. Starting in 1908, Brown taught pottery classes at NBSIS. Admittance of girls to the pottery classes was not supported by the institution, much to the frustration of Brown and Guerrier. NBSIS did not officially find the pursuit a worthwhile endeavor for young ladies. According to
1222-767: The fanciful design elements. Brown is credited for the principle designs for the pottery's works. Popular surface treatment of ceramic ware began to permeate the technical process and design. These designs harkened back to folk art while simultaneously expressing influence from Art Nouveau . The motifs ranged from simplified, country landscapes and houses of import to scenes from American history, such as Paul Revere making his famous ride. Floral designs including stylized lotus, tulips, and roses adorned many surfaces in equal measure with barnyard or symbolic wild animals, which pranced alongside winding script or grassy horizon lines. Bowls and plates with phrases or mottos involving allusions to virtues, or pieces bearing individualized names, were
1269-408: The form. On occasion, multiple initials were present on the forms. In addition to making pottery vessels and objects, Paul Revere Pottery also made several ceramic tile friezes, usually depicting people interacting in wholesome environments with idyllic, romantic interactions occurring amongst characters and animals. The pottery's artistic director, Edith Brown (September 10, 1872 - August 27, 1932),
1316-409: The institution, pottery classes did not increase the young women's potential for success as future mothers and assistants to their families. The commodification of their work turned the work from leisure-activity into a capitalist venture, which the institution deemed an unsuitable pursuit. Storrow, a philanthropist and friend of Guerrier and Brown, decided to fund the pottery. In 1908, Storrow bought
1363-659: The mid-1980s with courses in bookbinding, violin making, and preservation carpentry. These programs were specifically selected because bench skill programs in these fields were either lacking or underrepresented in the United States. Accreditation from the National Association of Trade and Technical Schools (NATTS) was awarded to the North Bennet Street School in 1982, and the United States Department of Education classified
1410-436: The most popular from the pottery, especially within the run of ware that was designed as a children's line. Many of the forms that came out of the pottery were wheel thrown, but the forms which were more popular and produced in greater abundance were expressed from molds. Every pottery piece is signed with “S.E.G.” on the bottom, signifying the reading group, followed by the initials of the young woman artist who made or finished
1457-435: The pottery in motion. The chemist provided the S.E.G. with a handful of recipes to begin working with. The studio primarily utilized yellow, blue, green, gray, white, and brown glazes at its onset. The range of glaze formulas and colorant usage expanded over time as technical skill was built and funding was more readily established. Soon, the pottery had a rich array of colors on their ware that played off and activated more fully
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1504-436: The program. The course was terminated in the 1950s. Following World War I, Greener introduced a number of vocational classes for veterans, including watch repair, cabinet making, carpentry, printing, and jewelry engraving. Between 1946 and 1947, Greener introduced the trade courses that continue to be the basis for the school: cabinet and furniture making, jewelry making and engraving, carpentry, and piano tuning. Watch repair
1551-456: The ranks of the volunteers in 1880. She founded a kindergarten and nursery school in the building and donated the money needed to lease the building for five years. The North End Industrial Home grew as a school for children and their mothers, as well as a training ground for prospective teachers. Recreation rooms, a lending library, and social clubs for working adults were also housed in the building. North Bennet Street Industrial School (NBSIS)
1598-560: The school as a post-secondary institution. Boston Women%27s Heritage Trail The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston , Massachusetts , leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill , commemorating women such as Abigail Adams , Amelia Earhart , and Phillis Wheatley . The guidebook includes seven walks and introduces more than 200 Boston women. The BWHT
1645-580: The school to join the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education as its business manager, leaving George C. Greener, the former ceramics instructor, as the new director of the school. Drawing inspiration from John Ruskin and William Morris , two leaders of the Arts and Crafts Movement , Greener introduced weaving and courses in making light fixtures to the school. Greener provided
1692-483: The school with a new motto: "Hand and mind lead to life". The school's finances were precarious, and the copies of early American lighting fixtures produced by the students were sold to fund school programs. Similarly, the homespun, vegetable-dyed cloth produced by the weaving program was marketed through the Industrial Arts shop on Charles Street at the foot of Beacon Hill to provide income to both students and
1739-401: The school's director through the 1980s. With middle-income professionals replacing immigrant populations in the North End, and other publicly funded organizations in place to serve the poor, NBSIS became known primarily as a center for training in fine crafts. In the 1980s, North Bennet Street Industrial School began transferring responsibilities for the operation of social service programs to
1786-481: The school. The homespun cloth department lasted until 1932. During this time, NBSIS, in cooperation with the City of Boston, developed a power machine operating class that paid wages to girls as they studied, combining academic work in the morning and vocational work in the afternoon. Local businesses, such as Filene's and Jordan Marsh, marketed aprons, curtains, shirts, lingerie and hospital garb produced by students in
1833-439: The sloyd method of instruction involved using craft projects to facilitate education, aiming to "arouse a desire and pleasure in work; to accustom students to independence; to instill virtues of exactness, order and accuracy: and to train the attention". Students were given progressively more difficult projects that built on each other and they were expected to work on them as independently as possible. Gustaf Larsson became head of
1880-431: The sloyd program in 1891 and published a quarterly periodical on the principles of instruction. The school instituted training for teachers in the sloyd methodology, and Larsson estimated that over three hundred teachers had graduated from the sloyd training class by 1903. The sloyd project-based mode of teaching is still the basis of craft curriculums at North Bennet Street School. The Boston Public Library established
1927-601: Was a required part of public school education. NBSIS administered woodworking classes for boys and cooking classes for girls until 1913, when the public school system assumed responsibility for pre-vocational training. Public schools continued to rent equipment and space at North Bennet Street until 1937. Printing, taught by Louis Hull, was offered as one of the first courses offered to pre-vocational students. In 1889, Mrs. Shaw brought Carl Fullen and Lars Eriksson, along with other sloyd teachers, to NBSIS. Originating in Sweden,
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1974-520: Was also offered at this time. Greener retired in 1954 and Ernest Jacoby, a Harvard graduate, was hired as the new director. As the demographics of the North End and the needs of the nation shifted NBSIS when from training recent immigrants to training returning World War II veterans and disabled students referred by the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission. Jacoby retired in 1976 and Thomas B. Williams served as
2021-615: Was assigned a head and board members oversaw departments through committees. Certificates were awarded to individuals who completed prevocational and evening classes. A formal partnership developed between the North Bennet Street Industrial School and the Boston Trade School for the education of young women. By 1911, 28 salaried teachers and over fifty volunteers participated in teaching eleven hundred enrolled students. In 1915, Dodd left
2068-708: Was born in Nova Scotia. In the early 1890s she moved to Boston, where she taught art classes at the North Bennet Street School. She met Edith Guerrier while taking an evening class at the Museum School (now the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts ). and in 1908 became director of the pottery studio. Brown and Guerrier lived together in an apartment above the pottery in Brighton until Brown's death in 1932. Brown
2115-480: Was created in 1989 by a group of Boston schoolteachers, librarians, and students. It is funded by the nonprofit Boston Educational Development Foundation. The BWHT presents teacher workshops, guided walks, and other activities to promote women's history . The list of BWHT walking tours currently includes tours of the Back Bay (East), Back Bay (West), Beacon Hill, Charlestown , Chinatown / South Cove , Dorchester , Downtown , Jamaica Plain , Lower Roxbury , Roxbury,
2162-438: Was founded in 1881 and formally incorporated in 1885, following the purchase of the building at 39 North Bennet Street. Founded to help immigrants transition to American life, NBSIS pioneered a holistic approach to community service a century before the term became popular. NBSIS offered job skill training classes to men and unmarried women, mothers were offered courses in home economics, and various social clubs and summer trips to
2209-425: Was originally established at 39 North Bennet Street in 1879 by fifty volunteers from an organization known as the Associated Charities as a settlement house serving the needs of recent immigrants in Boston's North End. In the late nineteenth century, the North End was among the most densely populated areas in the United States. The low-rent tenements near the docks had been drawing immigrants for generations. Driven by
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