Calling all quilters, weavers and fiber artists! Learn about the fascinating and lesser-known history of fiber art communities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Textile researcher and D.C. history enthusiast Methi Satyanarayana will share their research on local fiber art guilds, sewing circles and craftivism in our nation’s capital.  

About Methi Satyanarayana
Methi Satyanarayana is second-year master’s student in the Museum Studies program at GW. They are a textile researcher at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum as well as at the National Museum of Asian Art.

How to Participate
This program is free and will take place online. To participate, please register in advance to reserve your space. Once you have registered, we will email you a link and details for joining on Zoom. Simply follow that link at the time the program starts (12 p.m. EDT / 9 a.m. PDT). When you register, you can also request to receive a reminder email one day before the program with the link included.

About the D.C. Mondays Series
Join authors, researchers and community members online for lively discussions about Washington, D.C.’s history, politics, culture and more. Browse upcoming programs

GW students will share mini exhibition proposals spotlighting artworks and artifacts from the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection. The proposals are part of Dr. Kasey Sease’s class Curating Early D.C., which explores the capital’s history through the Civil War using the Washingtoniana collection.

About the Collection
The Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection traces the founding and evolution of Washington, D.C., as a city and a national capital. It includes nearly 2,000 prints, maps, manuscripts, books, newspapers, broadsides and photographs. The collection was donated to the George Washington University in 2011 by real estate developer and philanthropist Albert H. Small. Learn more about the collection

About Kasey Sease
Curator of the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection since 2023, Kasey Sease activates the collection for exhibitions and research, and engages students and scholars with the Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies. Dr. Sease holds a Ph.D. in American history from the College of William and Mary, and is a former managing editor of Washington History magazine.

In 1831, the directress of Georgetown Academy, a nun named Sister Gertrude Wightt, left her path to join Washington’s social scene. Join Indiana University of Pennsylvania Professor Joseph Mannard as he shares insights from his new book The Two Worlds of Ann Gertrude Wightt (Georgetown University Press, 2025). Learn how American Catholic leaders responded to Wightt’s exit, and the unorthodox moves she made to become a fixture in D.C. society, even befriending Dolley Madison.   

About Joseph Mannard:  
Joseph Mannard received a master’s in U.S. history from the University of South Florida, Tampa, and a doctorate in U.S. history from the University of Maryland, College Park. Since 1989, he has been a member of the History Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Mannard regularly teaches courses on thought and culture in early America, the early American Republic, women in America and fear of conspiracy in U.S. history. Most of his published research focuses on American Catholics, especially religious women, prior to the U.S. Civil War. 

About the D.C. Mondays Series
Join authors, researchers and community members online for lively discussions about Washington, D.C.’s history, politics, culture and more. Browse upcoming programs 

As the United States celebrates its 250th year, learn how one local historic site is commemorating the anniversary with an art exhibition. The Phillips Collection debuted Out of Many: Reframing an American Art Collection in November 2025 as a celebration and examination of the beauty and complexity of this nation’s history. Hear from members of The Phillips Collection staff about how this exhibition was developed to tell a more diverse constellation of stories depicting the people, cultures, landscapes and histories of the United States from the early 20th century to the present.

The exhibition features artworks from The Phillips' permanent collection as well as the historic collections of African American art at Howard University Gallery of Art and The David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, among other institutions. 

About the Speakers
Adrienne L. Childs, Ph.D., is senior consulting curator at The Phillips Collection and co-curator of the recent exhibitions Out of Many: Reframing an American Art Collection and Vivian Browne: My Kind of Protest. She has published widely on race and representation in European art as well as African American art. Her latest book is Ornamental Blackness: The Black Figure in European Decorative Arts (Yale University Press, 2025).

Amanda Acosta is digital archivist at The Phillips Collection, where she collaborates cross-departmentally to bring access and relevancy to the institutional archives. With nearly a decade of experience across disciplines in museums, libraries, archives and non-profits, she holds a bachelor’s in art history from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master’s in library and information science from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Questions? Email the Phillips Collection's library and archives at [email protected]

About the D.C. Mondays Series
Join authors, researchers and community members online for lively discussions about Washington, D.C.’s history, politics, culture and more. Browse upcoming programs

As the United States celebrates its 250th year, learn how one local historic site is commemorating the anniversary through programming, resources and more. President Lincoln's Cottage in Washington, D.C., is building a 250th commemoration that cultivates and lifts up the brave ideas of all who are taking on Lincoln’s “unfinished work” in pursuit of a more perfect union. Through onsite initiatives, including Crafting Connection and human-centered tours, as well as podcasts and events that bring together multiple sites across D.C., staff seek to capture the full breadth of the American experience.

About Joan Cummins
Joan Cummins (she/they) is associate director for learning initiatives at President Lincoln’s Cottage, a historic house and museum in Washington, D.C., where she supports public-facing programming for learners of all ages. Cummins works closely with students in the Students Opposing Slavery program working to combat human trafficking, as well as producing and cohosting their award-winning podcast Q&Abe. They are a public historian, artist and educator specializing in the intersection of interactive performance and public history, and hold a master’s degree from American University.

About the D.C. Mondays Series
Join authors, researchers and community members online for lively discussions about Washington, D.C.’s history, politics, culture and more.