Elena Sarni, an independent scholar, will provide a history of the Folly Cove Designers, as well as highlight the group's business dealings in the fashion world. The Folly Cove Designers were a Cape Ann cooperative of designers and artisans who created prints, home goods, and clothes starting in 1940. Their leader was Virginia Lee Burton, also author-illustrator of Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel and The Little House.

Elena Sarni holds a Master’s degree in History and Museum Studies from the University of New Hampshire. She is a Seacoast native, but has worked at several museums and historical societies throughout New England. She has been awarded fellowships by the New Hampshire Historical Society and Historic New England.

In 2010 Sarni was invited to participate in the esteemed Dublin Seminar. Her conference paper on the Folly Cove Designers was selected for publication in the seminar’s annual proceedings. She has since continued to research and write about the famed group of block printers and is currently completing her first book on the subject.

Reception at 6:30pm     Presentation at 7:00pm
Members: $5     Non-Members: $15
Please RSVP to info@newburyhistory.org or 978-462-2681