Blouse worn by Susan (Loretta Long) on Sesame Street

Description (Brief):

This blouse is part of a costume worn by Susan (portrayed by Loretta Long) in early seasons of Sesame Street. The blue gingham, cotton, button-up, long-sleeved blouse has white cotton cuffs and collar. Long was among the first human cast members of Sesame Street and portrayed Susan from 1969-2015. The character Susan Robinson is an African American woman who works as a nurse and is married to Gordon (1969-1972 Matt Robinson, 1972-1974 Hal Miller, 1974-2015 Roscoe Orman). At first, Susan was said to be a homemaker but when Sesame Workshop was criticized by the National Organization for Women for marginalizing female characters, the show’s producers decided to rewrite her as a public health nurse. In 1985, a plotline in the series followed Susan and Gordon’s adoption of a son, Miles. Susan and several other original cast members’ characters were retired from the show at the end of season 45 in 2015.

Description (Brief)

Sesame Street (1969-present) is the longest-running children’s television series in American history, and one of the most influential and impactful programs in the history of the medium. First developed by producer Joan Ganz Cooney to use all the entertaining tools of commercial television to teach preschool aged children, the series was also a notable effort to use public television to reach minority and low-income communities who otherwise lacked educational opportunities. The series combines live action sequences set in a Harlem-like neighborhood of urban brownstones and small businesses with animated segments, catchy modern music, popular culture parodies, and integrates Jim Henson’s Muppets, a memorable mélange of entertaining scenes that have made Sesame Street a favorite of children and parents alike. Sesame Street is a production of Sesame Workshop (known before 2000 as the Children’s Television Workshop) and premiered on the National Educational Television (NET) network in 1969 before that early educational broadcaster transitioned to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 1970. Since 2016, Sesame Street has aired new episodes on HBO although reruns still air on PBS.