AbstractsHistory

The Revolutionary War was often fought in people's front yards and houses. This lack of separation between home front and battlefield made the participation of women essential, even if women previously would have been relegated to the home front as much as possible. A very important aspect of women's entrance into the Revolutionary War's political sphere was through fabric and fashions. Women were encouraged publicly and privately to participate in the war effort through industry, such as sewing, knitting, and spinning; sending clothing items to the troops; and wearing specific fabrics and fashions themselves. The textual evidence for this encouragement is very clear in numerous newspapers, journals, letters, and public statements that were circulated by various groups. How women responded to these summons is significantly more difficult to study. Until almost the turn of the twenty-first century, the gold standard for museums was to collect pristine, unchanged clothing, or to erase historical evidence by removing alterations from pieces they added to their collection. Fortunately, Colonial Williamsburg has an extensive collection of altered clothing to study, with additional pieces from a few other museums. These collections contain a higher percentage of clothing that was altered in a more significant way during the Revolutionary War period than the percentage of clothing altered in different time periods. Women's gowns in this time period would have most likely received their most extensive remodeling from a mantua maker, but few, if any, mantua maker's log books have survived. The next most valuable sources are tailor's log books. Although tailors mostly made clothing for men, they also made and mended more simple clothing for women and children, and some tailors would work on or make gowns. Women were clearly encouraged in both their public and private lives to participate in the Revolutionary War through clothing. Material evidence indicates that some women responded to this call, but it is difficult to determine how many. Determining how many responded requires additional study of tailors logs and the material evidence that will become available as more collections become accessible and museums change their collection practices about what constitutes a valuable piece of clothing. 'Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in U.S. History.'; Thesis advisor: Katherine A. Hermes.; M.A.,Central Connecticut State University,,2016.; Advisors/Committee Members: Hermes, Katherine A..