Embroidered Sampler made at the Female Association Quaker School. Culture: American. Dimensions: 7 3/4 x 7 1/2 in. (19.7 x 19.1 cm). Maker: Embroidered by Charlotte Gardner (born 1801). Date: December 23, 1813.The Quakers were the first group to believe that female education should equal that of males, and that children of all classes and races should be educated. To this end, in the early years of the nineteenth century, they formed the first schools for non-elite girls in New York City--the Female Association Schools. These schools became the seed from which New York City's public school system grew. This example is an extremely rare sampler made in 1813 by a twelve-year-old girl named Charlotte Gardiner who attended the first Female Association School. According to the inscription, Charlotte made the sampler for Mary M. Perkins, a member of a prominent New York Quaker family and a patron of the school. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.