“America is now wholly given over to a damn mob of scribbling women, and I should have no chance of success while the public taste is occupied with their trash- and should be ashamed of myself if I did succeed.”

- Nathaniel Hawthorne, private letter to William D. Ticknor (January 19, 1855)

Hawthorne’s embittered words reflect traditional views about the outpouring of women’s published writing in the 19th century. While publishing novels or short stories was considered a public endeavor that exposed women, the creation of quilts that integrate language was an accepted, domestic mode of women’s expression. Scribbling Women investigates how the staggering proliferation of 19th-century women’s writing included but was also anticipated by women quilt and textile makers.

Gallery Guide

Coryell Gallery, June 13 - Nov. 22, 2025