The Perrin Collection

Subject

Textiles and Fashion

Title

The Perrin Collection

Description

The first Perrin ancestor to arrive in the New World from England in 1635 was John Perrin (Perryn) (1614-1674). He was one of the founders of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Perrin families lived in Rehoboth and Seekonk in Massachusetts, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island for the next three hundred years. One of John's descendants, David Perrin (1739-1825), a participant in the Battle of Lexington-Concord, farmed land in Seekonk and, with his wife Abigail Cooper, raised 14 children. The Historic Textile and Costume Collection has objects dating back hundreds of years from the families of at least three of these children.  

Mrs. Streeter, born Maude Perrin, (1871-1958) was descended from one of the fourteen children born to David Perrin after his marriage in 1762 to Abigail Cooper. In 1920, her daughter Mabel Etta (nee Streeter) married Irving Perrin, also a descendant of one of David and Abigail’s fourteen children, reuniting two sides of the family. They were the fourth generation to live at the Perrin Farm in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Mrs. Perrin (Mabel Etta Streeter Perrin) began giving artifacts from the homestead to the University of Rhode Island in the 1950s. When she and her sister (Mrs. Frank Crabbs) moved to smaller homes in 1964, many objects from the house were added to the collection.

During 1964 and 1965, members of the Perrin Family gave the University of Rhode Island a significant collection of artifacts dating back to the 1700s. Sisters Maude Ide and Mabel Etta Streeter were the active members of the family in organizing this donation, which includes a noteworthy button collection in memory of their mother, Mrs. George Streeter (URI 1964.37.01).

Donors to the Perrin Collection include: Mr. Irving Perrin; Mabel Etta Streeter (Mrs. Irving Perrin); Maude Ide Streeter (Mrs. Frank Crabbs); Maude Freeman Perrin (Mrs. George Streeter)

The Perrin Collection: History, Fashion, and Art in Nineteenth-Century Bags and Purses, by Joann Bussian Steere. Master's thesis available on University of Rhode Island digital commons.

The study focuses on eighteen bags and purses in the Perrin collection. A history of nineteenth-century purses and comparable examples provide the basis for analysis. The family genealogy facilitates an understanding of the provenance of these nineteenth-century textiles and offer insight into the lives and interests of the women who owned them. Family photographs, records, and newspaper articles increase the overall understanding of this local New England family.

Source

Donor: Mr. Irving Perrin; Mabel Etta Streeter (Mrs. Irving Perrin); Maude Ide Streeter (Mrs. Frank Crabbs); Maude Freeman Perrin (Mrs. George Streeter)

Identifier

URI 1955.42.01 - Maude Ide Streeter Crabbs
URI 1955.58.01 - Mabel Etta Streeter Perrin
URI 1955.59.01 - Mr. and Mrs. Irving Perrin
URI 1964.15.01 - Maude Ide Streeter Crabbs and Mabel Etta Streeter Perrin
URI 1965.07.01 - Mabel Etta Streeter Perrin
URI 1965.12.01 - Mabel Etta Streeter Perrin
URI 1966.24.01 - Mabel Etta Streeter Perrin
URI 1972.05.01 - Mabel Etta Streeter Perrin

Contributor

Joann Bussian Steere, MS '11
Susan J. Jerome, MS '06

Collection Items

Woman's Embroidered Bead Purse
This velvet purse represents bead embroidered bags worked in blue floral motifs. The dark velvet, shades of blue beads, and the pattern occur on other bags of the mid-to-late century. Some comparable bags have fringe on the bottom like this smaller…

Woman's Embroidered Bead Purse or Reticule
Bead Embroidered Bags While some reticules purposely matched the color of a pelisse or complemented an outfit, many served as decorative objects in their own right. During the early decades of the nineteenth century, well-bred women spent their…

Woman's Knit Bead Bag
The nineteenth-century bags and purses in the Perrin collection represent fashion trends of their times. Each of the types of bags in the group—reticules, knitted beaded bags, bead embroidered bags, miser bags, and leather coin purses—are good…

Woman's Knitted Bead Purse
A collection of bags and purses donated to the University of Rhode Island by Mrs. George Streeter and her daughters Maude Ide Crabbs and Mabel Etta Perrin, offers a unique opportunity to study New England fashion and culture through artifacts.[1]The…

Perrin Family Genealogy
This two-page chart identifies the people whose clothing and textiles comprise the Perrin Collection in the Historic Textile and Costume Collection at the University of Rhode Island, Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design, College…
View all 5 items