With Hammer in Hand: A Story of American Craft

Discover the story of three generations of the Dominy family, skilled craftsmen who worked and traded in the racially diverse community of East Hampton, Long Island, in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The gallery includes the nearly complete contents of their woodworking, clock-making, and watch repair shops—including lathes, workbenches, and more than 1,000 hand-tools, as well as examples of the furniture and tall clocks they made, and extensive shop records and family papers. Together, they tell a more complete story about the practices and roles of skilled craftsmen in pre-industrial America than any other single grouping of artifacts and documents that have survived from this period.

Learn more about the Dominy Collections.