Valley Talks: French-Canadian Quilts in Rhode Island with Professor Linda Welters

Valley Talks, a series of biweekly historical lectures, continues Sunday, March 9 at 1:30 p.m. at the Museum of Work & Culture. This year, all Valley Talks will be presented in a hybrid format, meaning guests have the option of joining the speaker in person at the Museum or online through Zoom.

Join University of Rhode Island Professor Linda Welters for a talk exploring the quilting culture of French-Canadians who left Canada to live and work in Rhode Island. The presentation will be drawn from a book co-edited with Margaret Ordoñez, Down by the Old Mill Stream: Quilts in Rhode Island, and exhibitions of French-Canadian quilts Welters and Ordoñez co-curated. Quilts made by French-Canadians in Rhode Island will be featured.

Admission to the Valley Talk is free, but registration is required. Guests can register online at rihs.simpletix.com.

Linda Welters is Professor of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design at the University of

Rhode Island where she teaches courses in the history of fashion. She also is the Director of the University’s Historic Textile and Costume Collection. Her research interests encompass Greek folk dress, archaeological textiles, American quilts, American fashion, and decolonizing fashion history. Recent book-length publications include Fashion History: A Global View (2018) with Abby Lillethun and The Fashion Reader 3rd edition (2022) with Abby Lillethun. She is editor

for the series Textiles that Changed the World (Bloomsbury). She is a graduate of St. Catherine

University (BA), Colorado State University (MA), and the University of Minnesota (PhD).

Other Valley Talks will include:

March 23: Join Paul Bourget as he takes a closer look at “America’s Sistine Chapel,” St. Ann’s Church in Woonsocket, and explores its artistry, history, and community.

The Museum’s 2025 Valley Talks series is presented by the Museum of Work & Culture Preservation Foundation and the RI AFL-CIO.