The Nantucket Historical Association’s main exhibition for 2025, Behind the Seams: Clothing and Textiles on Nantucket, will go on display May 23 in the Nantucket Whaling Museum. The exhibit will present more than 150 objects from the NHA’s costume and textile collections that tell stories of making, meaning, and island identity from across Nantucket history.
“So many aspects of island history can be explored through textiles and clothing,” said Michael Harrison, NHA Chief Curator and Obed Macy Research Chair. “The NHA is excited to present visitors with a rare look at some of the most intriguing objects in our collection—the clothing and textiles that people created and used on Nantucket in the past.”
On view through November 2, Behind the Seams will feature clothing, accessories, household textiles, and tools for sewing and textile production from the NHA’s 2,000-piece costume and textile collections. Rarely seen objects, assembled from more than two centuries of clothing and textiles on Nantucket, will demonstrate the skill and artistry of island makers and reveal the stories that clothing and textiles can tell.
Exhibition themes will explore textile production and trade—from raw materials to finished garments—as well as the relationships, communities, identities, and values revealed by textile objects created and used by Nantucketers. Clothing brands that reflect the summer resort and products from the island’s robust craft revival movement will further extend the themes of making and meaning into the twentieth century. The exhibition will highlight the persistence of sustainable practices, demonstrating how islanders have cared for and valued clothing and textiles. Together, the themes of making, meaning, and sustainability will reflect Nantucket’s history as a seaport, its shift from a whaling economy to a summer resort, and the legacy of the island’s talented textile practitioners.
Behind the Seams is the first major exhibition of objects from the NHA’s costume and textile collection since completion in 2018 of a major inventory funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). This cataloging and rehousing project ensured the long-term preservation of the NHA’s textile collection while increasing access and visibility for research and display. New insights revealed by the inventory are now being realized in Behind the Seams. “The NHA’s textile collection is a significant one, critically important as a gateway for research into better understanding Nantucket’s history and changing culture. The multi-year effort to catalogue and better care for this collection has led to this point, and we are excited to share this work with our members and the public,” said Niles Parker, Gosnell Executive Director of the Nantucket Historical Association.
The guest curator for the exhibition is Jennifer Nieling, an independent costume and textile specialist whose association with the NHA goes back to 2015, when she inventoried the menswear collection and mounted the first of many costumes for NHA exhibition projects. In 2017 and 2018, she led the IMLS-funded collection inventory with the help of interns Meg Pierson and Ariana Bishop and volunteer Robin Campbell. A graduate of Boston University and the Fashion & Textile Studies master’s program at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Nieling now specializes in costume mounting and display. She continues to pursue independent research and has published on the history of Nantucket Looms and weaver Andy Oates.
The NHA will offer an exciting slate of gallery activities and public programs, special events, and workshops to support the exhibition. A free lecture series will feature talks by scholars and artists; scheduled loom weaving demonstrations will be provided by local practitioners,; and a range of family-friendly textile crafts will be offered in the children’s Discovery Center. Special community programs and events will be offered, including textile-focused Mindful Memories and NHA on the Road programs, as well as Decorative Arts workshops at the 1800 House. To plan your visit and learn more about museum hours, visit NHA.org.