Shown above: Historic New England Mourning Bracelets from Historic New England’s collection.

Laura Johnson, Curator of Historic New England (historicnewengland.org), will be speaking.

Join Curator Laura E. Johnson for a peek inside New England’s jewelry box. This illustrated talk introduces a wide range of Historic New England’s jewels, from eighteenth-century mourning gems to contemporary wampum. America’s oldest preservation organization, Historic New England has more than 2,000 pieces of jewelry in its collection, a portion of which is on view in Mementos: Jewelry of Life and Love at the Eustis Estate in Milton, Massachusetts through January 7, 2018.

Laura Johnson is a specialist in American material life, particularly fashion and adornment. Laura is the author of Keepsakes and Treasures: stories from Historic New England’s jewelry collection and curator of Mementos: Jewelry of Life and Love and Head to Toe: hats and shoe fashions, opening in June 2018 at the Eustis Estate. She also works on textiles, basketry, silhouettes, and Native American material culture. She received her Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization from the University of Delaware and an M.A. in Early American Culture from the Winterthur Program.

Cost is $5 for nonmembers, which may be applied to cost of membership.

Please note that this is NOT our usual venue! It will be at the Belmont Gallery of Art. See details below.

Shown below (top) James Perry wampum collar and (bottom) Mehitable coral.

The jewelry items pictured on this page are all from Historic New England’s collection and are on view at the Eustis Estate as part of Mementos: Jewelry of Life and Love until January 7, 2018.