On Saturday, August 23, the green lawn in front of the Lexington Visitors Center was alive with the hum of spinning wheels and the energy of a community coming together to honor the historical contributions of local women.
The occasion was the fifth annual Spinning Tableau, hosted by local nonprofit LexSeeHer. This year’s Tableau took place in front of the Lexington Women’s Liberty Monument, unveiled in 2024 to recognize the social, political, economic, and cultural contributions of women throughout the town’s history. LexSeeHer is dedicated to making women visible through initiatives like the monument, a Speaker Series, Sew Along Sessions, Women’s Visibility Banners, and the annual Spinning Tableau.
The Spinning Tableau commemorates Anna Harrington’s 1769 protest in which she and 44 other women in Lexington made homespun cloth in defiance of British taxation. Their actions were both practical and political, challenging economic dependence on British imports while asserting women’s agency in colonial resistance.
“I studied American history in college, and I never learned about the spinning protests,” said Jessie Steigerwald, President of LexSeeHer. “Now, when historians look at them, they realize they were very important. They were in Connecticut, they were in Rhode Island, they were here in Massachusetts. And it helps us understand that women were sharing ideas about politics and that women were using their agency to make an impact.”
As conversations around historical inclusion continue, Steigerwald emphasized the importance of revisiting overlooked narratives and reexamining whose stories we choose to tell.
“My personal belief is, by putting light on these stories, we start reassessing how we want to think about each person’s contributions,” Steigerwald said.
On the day of the event, visitors could participate in a myriad of activities such as browsing the numerous tents set up along the lawn, joining the children’s activities run by the Lexington Girl Scouts, or listening to the children’s storytime on the lives and contributions of important historical women.
One of the Tableau’s main events was the reenactment of Anna Harrington’s bold 1769 Spinning Protest. Forty-five women adorned 18th-century dress and brought their “spinning wheels”—actually colorful umbrellas, since it would be difficult to source 45 antique spinning wheels—to relive that fateful moment.
“The reenactment is always a lot of fun every year; watching them reenact the protest that happened 200+ years ago when the women were protesting the British taxation on fabrics by bringing out their spinning wheels and spinning their own fabrics,” said Jeff Beam, a volunteer running the LexSeeHer Marketplace at the Spinning Tableau.
A hat tent set up in front of the Visitors Center even showcased the hats of every time period worn by each woman in the Women’s Monument.
“This year, we have representations of pretty much all the hats that you can find in the monument. If you look at the various women in the monument and you see what kind of hat they’re wearing, you’re supposed to be able to find it here,” said Alexandra Moelmann, a contributor to the research behind the Women’s Monument.
Inside the main tent at the Spinning Tableau was a Maker Space with the Lexington High School Crochet Club, where visitors could help make 45 squares into blankets. These “welcome blankets” are meant to welcome immigrants into the country.
To go along with the theme of fiber arts, yarn vendors were also set up along the perimeter of the Visitors Center’s lawn. Among the vendors were Bosworth Spindles, Subito Farm Designs, Toil & Trouble, and Knit Tuck & Purl.
Events like the Spinning Tableau shine light on those whose pivotal contributions are often overlooked due to biases and prejudice.
“Women have always been a part of history. Even though you don’t learn it in school, they’ve always been there. For example, one of my favorite stories from today is the one on Mary Katherine Goddard, who is the only woman whose name is on the Declaration of Independence, and I did not know that until last year when two books about her came out,” said Alissa Lauzon, co-chair of the 2025 Spinning Committee who conducted the storytime.
It is when people are willing to examine and re-examine the history that they have been taught, they can discover stories that many have forgotten. And when the community is able to come together and celebrate these historical figures, their legacy will never be lost to the erosion of time.
Terrific article! It clearly captured the essence of the day and the mission! Thank you!