Adoption fabrics on exhibit at Va.'s Williamsburg

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — When poverty or social mores forced a woman to abandon her infant at London’s Foundling Hospital during the mid-18th century, a piece of fabric left with the child signaled the mother’s intention to reclaim her baby. Among the thousands who left fabric pieces, few were able to return for their children.

Those simple but poignant swatches will be exhibited starting Saturday at Colonial Williamsburg. A woolen heart, a silver ribbon and a patchwork needle case are among the fabrics — called tokens — on loan from Coram, a British children’s charity, for the yearlong exhibit “Threads of Feeling.”