In 1903, Madeline Yale Wynne (1847-1918), a leader in the American Arts and Crafts movement, constructed an oak bride’s chest ornamented with hammered copper panels, wrought iron hinges, and semi-precious stones. Known as the Garden of Hearts for its carved and painted scene of three inverted heart-shaped trees standing alongside a winding river, the chest is a tour-de-force of Arts and Crafts design—which favored handcraftsmanship over mechanized production—and showcases Wynne’s many talents as a painter, metalsmith, and woodworker.

Open 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays, in the Flynt Center of Early New England Life. Historic Deerfield’s Textile Gallery provides a visual feast for visitors! Come see rare and unusual items from Historic Deerfield’s collection that tell fascinating stories of early schoolgirl needlework, men’s and women’s fashionable clothing, including a 1760s robe […]

Coming to Historic Deerfield in May, 2024! Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North will be on view at Historic Deerfield’s Flynt Center from May 1 to August 4, 2024.

As a corrective to histories that define slavery and anti-Black racism as a largely Southern issue, this exhibition offers a new window onto Black representation in a region that is often overlooked in narratives of early African American history.

Through 125 remarkable works including paintings, needlework, and photographs, this exhibition invites visitors to focus on figures who appear in—or are omitted from—early American images and will challenge conventional narratives that have minimized early Black histories in the North, revealing the complexities and contradictions of the region’s history between the late 1600s and early 1800s.