America's First Female Entrepreneur Five kids and a dead husband at age 44, Patience Wright took up wax sculpture and built a business in the American colonies in the 1770s, then went to London and took the town by storm. Benjamin Franklin, no slouch himself, called her an "ingenius" woman. And she may have spied for the colonial cause during the Revolution. We take a close look at Patience Wright (including showing what may be all of her surviving artwork) in our June 2008 issue. See issue contents. Meet the Artist: Nancy Rosier  To help you get to know some of the best artisans in America, we want to take a moment to introduce one of those selected for the 2007 Directory of Traditional American Crafts, Nancy Rosier, selected for exemplary work in the category "Painted Or Framed Art." Nancy Rosier considers herself a working 21st Century folk artist. As with artists of the 19th Century, she has taught herself her craft, and for over 20 years she has professionally painted theorem paintings.
Rozier’s Bachelor of Science in Education has gone hand-in-hand with her love of informing the public about the little known art of theorem painting (that is, painting framed art with the aid of stencils). Her knowledge of the wide range of historic theorems has come from extensive museum research. She developed her skills and practical expertise in producing the look of antique theorems through old-fashioned trial and error. But her work goes beyond mere duplication of the past. She creates own unique designs to take her art to another level.
Read more about Rosier. Find out about the Directory. Reader Letter: A Kitchen Wonder Kim Moyer writes: After reading "Look, Ma. No Refrigerator!" in your April issue, I had to share our experience in the summer of 2005 with Tom Bainbridge of Oley Valley Reproductions and his craftsmen Dave and Tom. They did a fantastic job in helping us conceal our appliances in our farmhouse kitchen renovation. They customized a corner cabinet for our wall oven/microwave and constructed a punched tin pie safe for our refrigerator, each of these with proper steps made to supply adequate ventilation. These three men helped make our kitchen renovation a pleasure and a dream come true. Send a reply to the editor. Dovecote IssueTeresa sent this note to our Readers' Exchange:
I am looking for a back issue which featured a DOVECOTE on the front cover, maybe 2000 issue. Thanks!. Visit the Readers’ Exchange. Letter from the Editor: Southern Hospitality In our current issue Early American Life executive editor Jeanmarie Andrews writes, "
"As a college student, I was fascinated by the history
of the South—its antebellum mansions, its political mindset,
its social structure. Perhaps that’s why I ended up pursuing
graduate studies in South Carolina, the seat of
secession during the mid-1800s. One of my most vivid
memories occurred in historiography class, when the professor
asked why we thought anthologies had been written
about the history of the South but not the North. I
don’t remember my attempted scholarly explanation, but
I will never forget the professor’s reply, uttered in a languid
drawl: “No, darlin’, it’s because the history of the
South is more in-er-es-tin’.”
" Read the Editor's Letter. | 
