Republican Motherhood and the Cult of Domesticity
Despite increasing freedoms, women were still tied to the home in their gendered roles as a wife and mother. Activism in historic preservation was a way for women to be civically engaged while still remaining acceptably domestic. These projects mostly dealt with the restoration of historically significant American politicians’ homes (the women who saved George Washington’s Mount Vernon directly inspired the King Manor Association). Historians have called this cultural fixation with the “home” as a moral space, the Cult of Domesticity.
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Mourning Picture, 1801 silk, watercolor, x1995.115
Like any cult, the Cult of Domesticity was entered into involuntarily and is hard to leave. Society at large viewed men and women as separate, and unequal. We still see the effects of the Cult of Domesticity today: women’s work outside the home is underpaid and women’s work inside the home is undervalued. Motherhood was an important part of the 19th-century woman’s role, and the connection between women as mothers and women as guardians of the home and family morality goes back even farther, to an idea called “Republican Motherhood.”
This range of items made by and/or featuring women shows that domesticity was a deeply embedded cultural value that was reflected in the tangible world of 19th century America.
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In the late 18th century, as men and machines started to take over women’s traditional household jobs like weaving and brewing, advice books and popular philosophy assigned women a new job: raising patriotic children.
Create Your Own Berlin Woolwork!
Create Your Own Berlin Woolwork
The domestic artform of Berlin wool work was a widely popular pastime for women to do from home during the Victorian era. Pre-made patterns were available in books, magazines and handbooks so everyone could make their very own piece of Berlin woolwork art. Designs with famous paintings, genre scenes, landscapes, biblical, and floral motifs were popular. The pin cushion from the King Manor collection uses a floral pattern.
Click the pencil icon in the corner of the image to begin.
Follow the pattern sheet or make your own design!
Click here to print the pattern guide and blank template to complete offline.