The Work of Her Hands

Doily crocheted by Edna Hall Kelso, great grandmother to my husband Jim, ca. 1930-40s

March is Women's History Month, a time to celebrate women's contributions and achievements. But what if our female ancestors didn't make incredible contributions or accomplish illustrious achievements? How do we learn more about them, and what can their lives tell us?

One way of focusing on our women ancestors is to look at the objects of their lives. Collectively, these items are called material culture. According to genealogist and speaker Gena Philabert-Ortega, material culture is 'stuff.'  "It's the items that humans create."¹ This month, Gena is focusing a blog post a day on a single item that a female ancestor may have created, used, collected, etc., ranging from correspondence to clothing to cookbooks, in a series called "Her Life in 31 Items."  She includes questions that we might also ask ourselves about the items owned by our women ancestors and how they were acquired, used, etc. It's a brilliant idea.

These items can, she argues, "...either have genealogically relevant information or provide social history context."² So, each item can tell a story, if we look and listen hard enough.

For this week's post, I'm sharing several items I inherited from my husband's grandmother Claretta Hall Casey (1917-2000). Two doilies were likely crocheted by her mother Edna Kelso Hall (1883-1975), and Claretta herself likely stitched the cross bookmark. I was immediately drawn to these items for their beautiful designs and execution. And, as someone with an appreciation for the tactile, I love being able to touch the things that remind me of someone.

I have little background for the items, just my father-in-law's brief recollections of this hobby-one of several that his mother and grandmother shared. He notes regarding his stay-at-home mother, "I remember her and Grandma Hall both embroidering; things like doilies, end-table cloths, etc., they were usually given to others as gifts."³

This one sentence, however, tells us many things: 

• This was a skill likely passed on from mother to daughter—from Edna Kelso Hall to her daughter Claretta Hall Casey. Who might have taught Grandma Hall how to crochet such intricate designs? Did this lineage of skill extend even further back in time?
  
• This skill was often used for utilitarian purposes. Objects were sometimes created for gift giving. This could have been either for economical reasons or because handmade items were considered a gift from the heart, an investment of time and talent.
  
• It also approximates the age of the items to at least 75-80 years old, dated to my father-in-law's childhood in the early 1940s.

Being a crocheter myself, I know that these items were created using very small steel crochet hooks, and very thin cotton thread. They were the work of dexterous hands—far more dexterous than my own.

The designs are intricate as well. Photographing them and blowing up the images allows a closer appreciation of the tiny stitches...

 

...while zooming out on them reveals patterns I hadn't seen before, such as the fact that the largest doily looks like a sunflower. I missed this in the past, as I usually display this doily draped over a shelf in a china cabinet.

The bookmark reveals two things: 

• The owner was a Christian. I know this to be true of all of the women in the Casey/Hall/Kelso lineage. The three interlocking discs at the cross's center may indicate the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  
• The bookmark appears slightly flattened, indicating it may have been used, not just displayed. I can well imagine it being tucked carefully between the pages of an equally well-worn Bible.

I'm glad I took the time to really look at these few items to see what they were "saying" to me. It is an interesting exercise. And it is just one example of how studying the items our mothers and grandmothers, sisters and aunts have left behind can illuminate their lives. I'm honored to be the custodian of these treasured artifacts, and the reminders they bring of the two remarkable, loving women whose hands created them.

 

Claretta Hall Casey and her mother Edna Kelso Hall, the creators of the crocheted items.⁴

Until next time... 

 

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NOTES

¹ Gena Philabert-Ortega, Gena's Genealogy (http://philibertfamily.blogspot.com/2023/02/womens-history-month-2023-her-life-in.html#.ZAeLDR_MJD8 : 7 March 2023), "Women's History Month 2023: Her Life in 31 Objects," 27 February 2023. 

² Ibid.

³ Jim Casey, Lewisville, TX, [e-address for private use] to Nancy Gilbride Casey, email, 26 January 2021, "quick question," privately held by Gilbride Casey, [e-address for private use], Tioga, TX. Both women enjoyed crocheting, as well as embroidery and quilting.

⁴ Claretta Casey and Edna Hall photograph, ca. 1940s; digital image ca. 2021, privately held by J. Casey, Lewisville, Texas. Photo inherited from his parents Harold and Claretta Casey, about 2009. Image colorized with MyHeritage photo editing tools.