Sampler Collector, Curator & Independent Scholar
About Alexandra
Alexandra Lally Peters was born in Scotland, the daughter of a British army officer and his Italian wife. Her family emigrated to the United States in 1959, and she considers herself to be American with a British core. She holds an MA in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University, and understanding how people develop has been at the center of her adult experience. Alexandra writes essays and novels, and is a historian of the needlework and the lives of girls in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. She has a particular fascination with the experience of girls in early America, and both her sampler collection and her writing open a window into history through the work of girls and women in the pre-industrial world.
UPCOMING EVENTS
History Revealed by Schoolgirl Samplers
Lecture by Alexandra Peters, Needlework Historian
at the Norwalk Historical Society
Sunday, March 7 at 2:00pm
Norwalk Town House, 2 E. Wall Street, Norwalk, CT
Alexandra Peters, a sampler collector, curator, and needlework historian, will discuss the legacy of 19th-century schoolgirl samplers and what they reveal about life before the Industrial Revolution from the “often surprising perspective of young women.” A companion exhibition at the Norwalk Historical Society Museum features over a dozen samplers and needeworks from our own collection.
This event is free to attend.
History Made Visible: The Legacy of Thousands of Schoolgirl Samplers
Lecture by Alexandra Peters, Needlework Historian
presented by the Suffield Historical Society, in collaboration with the Phelps-Hatheway House and Connecticut Landmarks
Sunday, March 15, 2026, 2 p.m. at the
Suffield Senior Center, 145 Bridge Street, Suffield, CT
Where are the women in history? Too often, they are barely visible. Yet in the United States, there is a remarkable record of women’s lives preserved in an unexpected form: samplers stitched by girls. From the arrival of early settlers through the Industrial Revolution, these needleworks captured everyday life at a time when sewing was an essential skill. They reflect moments of revolution and abolition, references to literature and westward expansion, and intimate records of births, deaths, and family histories.
Alexandra will explore how samplers made before 1850 offer a rare view of life before the Industrial Revolution, seen through the eyes of young women. Inventive and beautiful, these works are now recognized as historical documents, stitched on silk and linen. Because families treasured them, thousands have survived, preserving the education, creativity, and lived experiences of girls whose voices were otherwise left out of the historical record.
This event is free to attend.