September is National Sewing Month. While the art of sewing dates back to 25,000 B.C.E(!), it was well into the 19th century when sewing societies gained popularity. Here in Detroit, the Self-Help Circle was a Jewish aid organization that put sewing at its center.
Founded by Sarah Krolik in 1889, the school taught young Jewish girls, mainly immigrants, how to sew. This education gave the young women more prospects for employment and reduced the need for charity. Many of the teachers (community volunteers) made books of instructions and samplers, including Hattie Franklin, wife of Rabbi Leo Franklin of Temple Beth El. The book in the above photograph belonged to her. Can you guess the year the book was created? Here are some clues to help:
- Self-Help Circle was one of the four original agencies of the United Jewish Charities (aka Federation), and Sarah Krolik served on the board of directors of UJC until her death in 1921.
- Hattie Franklin had only been in Detroit for one year when she made this book.
- A needle and thread would be used a year later in an attempt to save the life of ill-fated president William Mckinley.
- Bonus clue: Sarah Krolik’s daughter, Ernestine, married famed architect Albert Kahn. Less a clue and more a fun fact!
Think you know the year? Make your best guess and see the answer at the bottom of the page!
Thanks to Hattie Franklin signing and dating her book, we can place it in history. While the Self-Help Circle started as a method to teach sewing, it quickly expanded its scope. In Fred Butzel’s eulogy of Sarah Krolik, he said this: “The Self Help Circle was established long before domestic science training was considered an element in our public schools’ curriculum. Mrs. Krolik not only recognized the need for this type of work, but she labored unceasingly to invent and perfect a system of teaching and sewing so that the work could be taught thoroughly in proper stages, could be graded and judged and would come to be regarded not as a kind of drudgery but as an artistic expression.”
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And the answer is… 1900!
Image: Jewish Federation of Detroit Collection, FIC.2, Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives.
