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The Phyllis Ellison Waterfowling
Collection
This collection includes documentation of the waterfowling
traditions of the “downriver” and St. Clair Flats area of Michigan.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Phyllis Ellison, of Farmington, Michigan, was an
avid collector of waterfowl decoys and materials pertaining to decoy carving
and carvers, especially those of the Great Lakes region. The materials decorated
her home and served as sources of inspiration for her work in the advertising
business in Detroit. She not only knew well the decoy carvers, visiting
them in their homes and hunting places, but also she was great friends with
the growing number of decoy collectors in the region. Her collection, donated
by Ellison to the MSU Museum, contains clothing, magazines, newspaper clippings,
photographs, calendars, and other ephemera. Of special interest are programs
from early decoy shows in Detroit and Southeast Michigan, as well as some
national exhibitions.
Donor:
Phyllis Ellison
Related Collections:
The Hy Dahlka Waterfowling Collection
The Michigan Thumb Area Traditions Project Collections
Publications:
C. Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell. Michigan Folk Art: Its Beginnings
to 1941. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum,
1976.
C. Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell. Rainbows
in the Sky: Twentieth Century Michigan Folk Art.
East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum, 1977.
Exhibitions:
“Michigan Folk Art: Its Beginnings to 1941,” Kresge Art Museum,
Michigan State University, 1976.
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