The Michigan State University Museum/
Great Lakes Quilt Center Collections
Michigan State University Museum hosts the Great
Lakes Quilt Center dedicated to researching, documenting, preserving, and
presenting quilt history. The Center is an affiliate of the Center for Great
Lakes Culture and a Regional Center for the Quilt/The Alliance for American
Quilts. The museum holds one of the world's most significant quilt collections
because of the diversity of its holdings, its rare and unique items, and
discrete collections that represent key eras of quilting scholarship or
are based on extensive ethnographic and archival research. In 1952, the
first quilts were accessioned into the MSU Museum's collections when the
MSU museum acquired the entire contents of another museum that was dismantled.
Through subsequent donations from collectors and quilters and acquisitions
based on research activities, the MSU Museum now holds more than 500 significant
historical and contemporary quilts. Acquisitions have been supported in
part by funds from three modest endowments, funds contributed by individuals
and groups throughout Michigan, and, for special quilt research projects,
the MSU Development Fund, the MSU Office of the Provost and MSU Office of
Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. The quilt collections
are housed in state-of-the-art rolled storage system in the museum's Cultural
Collections Resource Center.
Unique Collections Include:
The
Mary Schafer Quilt and Ephemera Collection
The Kitty
Clark Cole Collection
The
Merry and Albert J. Silber Collection
The
Clarke Family Quilt Collection
The
Durkee-Blakeslee-Quarton-Hoard Family Quilt Collection
The
Michigan African-American Quilt Collection
The
North American Indian and Native Hawaiian Quilt Collection
Deborah
Harding Redwork Collection
Lone Star by Margaret David
Photo by Doug Elbinger
Trip Around the World,
1932, by Laura May Clarke and Bozema Clarke
Photo by Fumio Ichikawa
The museum also houses the Michigan
Quilt Project files and the collections of materials (tape-recorded
interviews, photos, field notes, patterns and other ephemera) generated
by the center's research projects, including the national Quilters Save
Our Stories (QSOS) and Quilt Treasures projects conducted in partnership
with The Alliance for American Quilts. In addition, the center houses a
room-use only library of over 1000 quilt and textile titles, including the
Eve Boicourt collection. The quilts and supporting materials provide the
basis for ongoing research projects that result in the development of publications,
exhibitions, public programs, and media products. Activities are supported
in part by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, earned revenue
from quilt licensing projects, contributions from individuals and groups,
and grants for special projects from the National Endowment for the Arts
and other agencies.
NOTE: For more information on the activities of the Great Lakes Quilt Center/MSU
Museum see http://museum.msu.edu/glqc/index.html
Primary Collectors/Fieldworkers:
Kitty Clark Cole, Merry and Albert Silber, Eve Boicourt, Deborah Harding,
Marsha MacDowell, C. Kurt Dewhurst, Mary Schafer.
Collectors/Donors:
Kitty Clark Cole, Merry and Albert Silber, Harriet Clarke, Betty Quarton
Hoard, Eve Boicourt, Deborah Harding, and numerous other donors.
Exhibitions:
"African American Quiltmaking in Michigan," Michigan State University Museum,
East Lansing, Michigan, February 3 - September 29, 1991; Museum of African
American History, Detroit, Michigan, November 1, 1991 - January 1, 1992;
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan February 23 - April 5, 1992; Ella
Sharp Museum, Jackson, Michigan, January 14 - March 7, 1993.
"American Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum," Mitsukoshi
Department Store, Tokyo, Japan, January 28 - February 9; Takashimaya Department
Store Namba, Osaka, Japan, March 5 - 19; Mitsukoshi Department Store, Niigata,
Japan, May 7 - 12; Mitsukoshi Department Store Station Museum, Kyoto, Japan,
December 4 - 28, 2003.
"A Family Legacy: Quilts from the Clarke Collection," Michigan State University
Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, June 6, 1993 - January 25, 1994; Michigan
State Fair, Detroit, Michigan, August - September, 1994.
"Great Lakes Native Quilting," Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing,
Michigan, September 19, 1999 - February 6, 2000; Sloan Museum, Flint, Michigan,
September 14 - November 14, 2001, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana,
February 24, 2006 - April 23, 2006.
"The Mary Schafer Collection: A Legacy of Quilt History," Michigan State
University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, July 29 - December 31, 2001.
"The Michigan Quilt Project: New Discoveries," Michigan State University
Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, July 29 - December 31, 2001.
"Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition," Michigan State University
Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, September 13, 1987 - January 30, 1988; Kresge
Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, September 12 - November 1, 1987; Michigan
Historical Museum, Lansing, Michigan, September 13, 1987 - January 30, 1988.
"Michigan Quilt Project Blocks," Oakland County 4-H Fair Pioneer Tent, Davisburg,
Michigan, July, 1997; Wolcott Mill Metropark, Shelby Township, Michigan,
September 13 - 14, 1997; Oakland County 4-H Fair Pioneer Tent, Davisburg,
Michigan, August, 1998; Wolcott Mill Metropark, Shelby Township, Michigan,
October 15 - 18, 1999; Cameo Quilt Guild Quilt Show, International Academy,
West Bloomfield, Michigan, October 14 - 15, 2000; Clinton-Macomb Public
Library, Macomb Township, Michigan, March - April, 2002; Grand Rapids Girls
School, Grand Rapids, Michigan, March, 2002; Troy Historical Museum, Troy,
Michigan, July - October, 2002.
"Native American Quilts from the Southwest: Tradition, Creativity and Inspiration,"
Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, December, 1998
- March, 1999.
"Native Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum Collection," McCune
Art Center, Petoskey, Michigan, October 5 - 31, 1998.
"MSU Museum Quilts," MSU Union in association with the American Quilt Study
Group annual meeting, October 15-16, 1999.
"Quilting Sisters: African-American Quilting in Michigan," Krasl Art Center,
St. Joseph, Michigan, January 13 - February 13, 2000; Port Huron Museum,
Port Huron, Michigan, September 8 - October 21, 2001; Kalamazoo Valley Museum,
Kalamazoo, Michigan, June 22 - September 8, 2002.
"Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum Collection," Southwestern
Michigan College Museum, Dowagiac, Michigan, June - September, 1995; Midland
County Historical Society, Midland, Michigan, December 1, 1997 - January
25, 1998.
"The Quilts of Rosie Wilkins: Improvisational Quilting in the African American
Tradition," Michigan Women's Historical Museum and Hall of Fame, Lansing,
Michigan,. August 1 - September 24, 1989.
"Quilts from the Merry and Albert Silber Collection," Michigan State University
Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, August 21 - November 13, 1988.
"Michigan Quilts," International Quilt Market and Festival, Chicago, Illinois,
May 9-14, 1989.
"Heritage Quilts," Battle Creek Art Center, Battle Creek, Michigan, September
2-27, 1987.
"Quilts Old and New: Reproductions from the Great Lakes Quilt Center," Michigan
State University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, January 12 - August 17,
2003.
"Sisters of the Great Lakes: Art of American Indian Women," The Field Museum,
Chicago, Illinois, December 20, 1997 - July 5, 1998; Forest County Potawatomi
Cultural Center & Museum, Crandon, Wisconsin, September, 2000 - February,
2001; Fort Miami Heritage Society, St. Joseph, Michigan, May - September,
2002.
"To
Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions," (Large Version-SITES)
National Museum of the American Indian, New York, New York, October 16,
1997 - January 4, 1998; Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing,
Michigan, April 19 - October 18, 1998; Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, Massachusetts,
March 13 - June 6, 1999; Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland,
Ohio, July 3 - September 26, 1999; Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana,
October 23, 1999 - January 16, 2000; Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, February
12 - May 7, 2000; Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, Washington,
June 3 - August 27, 2000; Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New
Mexico, September 23 - December 31, 2000; Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona,
January 13 - April 8, 2001.
"To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions," (Small Version) Southern
Ute Indian Cultural Center, Ignacio, Colorado, October - December, 1999;
Southwestern Michigan College Museum Dowagiac, Michigan, February 1 - March
25, 2000; Milwaukee County Historical Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September
- December, 2000; Forest County Potawatomi Cultural Center & Museum; Crandon,
Wisconsin, February - May, 2001; Woodland Cultural Center, Brantford, Ontario,
January 25 - April 28, 2002.
"To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions," (Interpretive Panel
Version) Akwesasne Museum, Akwesasne, New York, July 31 - September 22,
2000; Dubois Annual Quilt Festival, Dubois, Wyoming, August 10-12, 2001.
Publications:
Marsha L. MacDowell, ed. African
American Quiltmaking in Michigan. Michigan State University Press
with the Michigan State University Museum, 1997.
Marsha MacDowell, ed. Great
Lakes, Great Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum. Lafayette,
California: C&T Publishing, Inc., 2001.
Marsha L. MacDowell and C. Kurt Dewhurst, eds. To
Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions. Santa Fe, New Mexico:
Museum of New Mexico Press in association with Michigan State University
Museum, 1997.
Marsha MacDowell and Ruth D. Fitzgerald. Michigan
Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition. East Lansing, Michigan:
Michigan State University Museum, 1987.
Gwen Marston. Q
is for Quilt: An ABC Quilt Pattern Book. East Lansing, Michigan:
Michigan State University Museum, 1987.
Gwen Marston and Joe Cunningham. Mary
Schafer and Her Quilts. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University
Museum, 1990.
Lynne Swanson and Marsha MacDowell, eds. Quilts
from the Albert and Merry Silber Collection. East Lansing, Michigan:
Michigan State University Museum, 1987.
Marsha MacDowell, "African-American Quiltmaking Traditions in Michigan,"
in Yvonne R. Lockwood and Ruth D. Fitzgerald, eds. 1992
Festival of Michigan Folklife. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan
State University Museum, 1992.
Marsha MacDowell, "Quilting in Michigan's Thumb," in Yvonne R. Lockwood
and Marsha MacDowell, eds. 1998
Michigan Folklife Annual. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State
University Museum, 1998. Marsha MacDowell, "To honour and comfort,"
in Quilters' Review, Winter 2001.
A. Christopher Carmichael, "Stitching to Heal and Remember: The NAMES Project
AIDS Memorial Quilt in Michigan" in Yvonne R. Lockwood and Ruth D. Fitzgerald,
eds. 1996
Michigan Folklife Annual. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State
University Museum, 1996.
Ruth D. Fitzgerald and Marsha MacDowell, "There's Good Money in Quilts,"
in Yvonne R. Lockwood and Ruth D. Fitzgerald, eds. 1988
Festival of Michigan Folklife. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan
State University Museum, 1988.
--compiled by Lynne Swanson and Marsha MacDowell, 2003
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