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.
New & Upcoming
Talk at the Sharon Historical Society
“Were there any women in Colonial America? Why are they absent from the story?”
Sunday, June 14, 4:00 pm at Sharon Historical Society, 18 Main St, Sharon CT
Absence in a record does not mean absence in the world, but our system of recording history was never focused on the lives of women. Historian and sampler collector Alexandra Peters will use her own collection to look at other ways we can rediscover our full history, through the work of girls and women. The thread is there - we just need to know where to find it.
Selected Samplers Featured in Exhibit at American Folk Art Museum
“Locating Girlhood: Place and Identity in Early American Schoolgirl Art”
October 9, 2026 – February 28, 2027, New York, NY
Four samplers from Alexandra’s collection are included in this upcoming exhibition at the American Folk Art Museum.
Northwest Sampler Guild talk
Private Event
Queen City Sampler Guild talk
Private Event
Listen to Alexandra’s conversation with Isabella Rosner on the Sew What Podcast
Alexandra recently joined Isabella Rosner to discuss collecting, research, and what continues to surprise her when she looks closely at samplers. She shares why samplers matter and how much they still have to teach us.