Dress & Drinks: HTCC, University of RI | Conversations on Dress | Costume Society of America

Dress & Drinks: Historic Textile & Costume Collection, University of Rhode Island | Conversations on Dress | Costume Society of America Join us as we speak with Linda Welters, Professor & Director of Historic Textile and Costume Collection, and Susan J. Jerome, Collections Manager at the Historic Textile and Costume Collection, University of Rhode Island! Jerome and Welters make for an impressive duo. Welters began her teaching career at University of Wyoming Fashion Merchandising and Design Department before coming to URI’s Textiles after receiving her PhD; during her tenure with URI, she has also served as the Editor of CSA’s peer-reviewed journal, Dress, and as Editor of the series Textiles that Changed the World (Bloomsbury). Jerome, who received her Masters from URI, worked at Mystic Seaport Museum, costuming the 19th century first person interpreters, and CT Quilt Works in textile conservation for many years. Their paths, forged by a mutual love for historical textiles and material culture, met at URI, where they now spearhead the University’s expansive collection - one with characteristic New England historicism at its core: robust in clothing of the everyday man, including late eighteenth and nineteenth century dress donated from local families, twentieth century styles from fashion houses, and quilts, coverlets, fashion plates, and fabrics. Their latest project looks at quilts that ‘tell stories’ through video, and their next exhibition is curated by URI graduate st