Ornament, Christmas Tree
Ornament, Christmas Tree
Ornament, Christmas Tree

Ornament, Christmas Tree

Object number2011.82.4 a-d
Date1984-1987
Mediumcotton
Credit LineGift of FISA Foundation
DescriptionFour cross-stitched Christmas tree ornaments including a toy soldier, goose, flower, and doll.Dimensions(a) H: 7 ; W: 1.5 ; D: 1
(b) H: 6 ; W: 3.25 ; D: 1.25
(c) H: 7.625 ; W: 1.875
(d) H: 4.25 ; W: 1.75 ; D: 1

Inscriptions(a)
Red cotton backing, with black ink handwriting, "DANA HUTCHINSON / 1984".

(b)
Paper tag attached to foot, with blue ink handwriting, "SALLY SOMERS / W-T / 1985".

(c)
Hand stitched in green on back: "W-T / 1887-1987".

Paper tag attached to ribbon, with blue ink handwriting: front, "SALLY / SOMERS" ; back, "1987".

(d)
Attached to back is a circular tag with black ink handwriting, "H. GREINER".
Historical NotesThese Christmas ornaments hung on the tree in the Harmarville Convalescent Home run by the Federation of Independent School Alumnae (FISA); the ornaments were made by members of FISA. The Federation of Girls’ School Societies (renamed the Federation of Independent School Alumnae in 1985) was a philanthropic group formed by Anne Burgwin Scully in 1911. Scully, a graduate of the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York had previously organized the Misses Masters School (Dobbs) Society of Pittsburgh to provide social services to poor women. Realizing that these efforts could be strengthened by forming a federation of like-minded school societies, Scully invited Madelaine Laughlin Alexander (Mrs. Maitland Alexander), Louise Kay Ebbert (Mrs. George Singer Ebbert), Marjory Rea Laughlin (Mrs. H. Hughart Laughlin), and Miss Helen Blanche Rauh to join her in establishing the new organization. With its mission to improve the lives of working class women, the Federation opened the Harmarville Convalescent Home in 1913, twelve miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The first of its kind in the Pittsburgh area, the Home provided a place for women to recover following childbirth. In 1956, reacting to the changing needs of society, the Federation converted the Home into the Harmarville Rehabilitation Center and began focusing on rehabilitating those with disabilities. In 1996, the Federation decided to sell the HRC to a for-profit healthcare company. Today, the FISA Foundation continues to be involved in charitable work.
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