Last Mantua Maker: Women in Boston's Clothing Trades
1,479 views · Published 6 May 2014 · 48:09 · Indexed 8 November 2026
Channel: GBH Forum Network · 2014 · Education
In 1845, after almost a dozen years in business, Rebecca Goodwin Major closed up shop. She was the very last Boston woman to call herself a mantuamaker in the pages of the city directory. Most of her competitors abandoned the 17th-century term for the more up-to-date nomenclature, dressmaker. Marla Miller, assistant professor of public history at UMASS Amherst, will look at how one of the most prestigious occupations available to American women since the 17th century, faded from the Boston scene.
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