It was long ago in a not-too-distant place, there were people. People just like you and me. Some people were content with what they already possessed, but others had goals and desired to be better. It is those people I write about today, who leveraged the tools available to be better — people that were living where we live this very day.
There were no instant messages and there were not any telephones. Our ancestors living in the same community where we live today relied upon newspapers and discussion to keep up-to-date on local and world activities. To gather at a Main Street diner or the local taverns where discussions and debates were common. To listen to the arriving Concord Coach passengers tell tales about Boston. Yes, our ancestors craved news and information as much as we do today, but those resources were very different long ago.
It was in the winter of 1818 to 1819 when young ladies and young gentlemen desired to socialize and improve their skills. Many people did not know how to read but there was a desire by the young people to learn. Many people did not know how to sew or knit or quilt either, but they desired to do so. The young people in Concord discussed some of the lacking skills and abilities and organized a gathering that winter. The crops had long been harvested; the cold winter winds were blowing and the young had a deep desire to socialize and become better.
The young people agreed they would organize an event that would bring both the young men and the young ladies together routinely during the long winter months before planting season began again. So, they established a reading and sewing circle.
Reading was considered an art. If you could read, you could open doors that were closed. Sewing was also an art: more young men could not read or sew in fact, but more woman tended to possess both of these skills. Some young people were school teachers, crafts people, farmers and more. Everyone brought knowledge to the new circle being formed. The first circle gathering in Concord was a time when the rules and structure were finalized, people were placed in leadership roles and they were very pleased to be in the circle.
The first circle meeting that winter allowed each member to step forward in alphabetical order to read for the circle members for a period of 15 minutes. Artemus Rogers was appointed monitor and he would criticize or correct reading errors. Enoch Darling was his assistant and filled the position of monitor if Rogers was absent. Prose and poetry were read, but the person reading had the option to select their own verse.
It was said the meetings were pleasant and socially pleasing. People started to read better too. As the reading continued to progress over the first few months, the women in the circle met at the home of Honorable Joshua Darling to further organize a strictly sewing circle that spring in 1819. The sewing circle evolved much like the reading circle. Weekly meetings at multiple members homes to socialize and sew and manufacture various articles. Gentlemen would join the sewing circles too, mostly to socialize with the young ladies.
That winter of 1818 to1819 the reading and sewing circles in Concord were productive. Four boxes of clothing, quilts and additional articles were manufactured and donated to the Native American missions. The young people in Concord felt this effort to assist the poor and needy locally should include those in need from across the land. The rustic cabins of many a missionary far away in the open prairies were made more comfortable and durable by the young people in the Concord circles.
As the years continued to pass, the social circles for reading and sewing continued. They grew even more popular and produced better reading skills and many articles of clothing. The Civil War period allowed the circles to produce items to keep the Union Soldiers warm and comfortable. It was said that at sewing circles “fingers flew” as production was ramped up even more as the war continued. At the conclusion of the Civil War the articles of clothing produced for the soldiers were redirected to the freedman as well as the many poor and displaced people around the country. Many local communities continued the traditions established in the reading and sewing circles, a place where only goodness and kindness grew.
The young men and women living in Concord during that winter craved social interaction. They only wanted to be better. This was accomplished by helping other people. I leave you with this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”