Textile Fragment

The large collection donated by Franklin Cushman and his family and friends included two fragments of a printed cotton dress that once belonged to Betsey Williams (1790-1871), great-great-great granddaughter of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. 

Betsey was born and raised in a cottage that now bears her name. Located in Providence, the house was built in 1773 by Betsey’s grandfather, Nathaniel Williams. Betsey and her sister grew up in that house and played in the surrounding fields and marshes. When Betsey died in 1871, she bequeathed the house and its 102-acre property to the city of Providence, which became Roger Williams Park. The Betsey Williams Cottage underwent restoration in 2018, reopening to the public in August.

Betsey’s dress fabric is typical of the calicoes printed in the first half of the nineteenth century. The brown ground and the floral spring design was printed directly on the cotton rather than dyed in the discharge style. Although undated, it resembles the simple calicoes printed in the 1810s and 1820s.