Catalog of an exhibition held at the International Quilt Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska, October 6, 2023 - April 20, 2024. Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-248) and index.
Contents:
"The whole country is quilt conscious" -- Visual rhetoric -- "For unskilled women we have only the needle" -- Home economics -- A usable past -- Covers for the nation -- New Deals for quilts?.
Summary:
"During the Roosevelt administration's efforts to combat the Great Depression, the quilt became an emblem for how to lift one's family out of poverty, piece by piece. A New Deal for Quilts explores how the U.S. government drew on quilts and quilt-making, encouraging Americans to create quilts individually and collectively in response to unemployment, displacement, and recovery efforts. Quilters shared their perspectives on New Deal programs such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the National Recovery Administration, which sent quilts as gifts to the Roosevelts and other officials. Federal programs used quilts' symbolic heft to communicate the values and behaviors individuals should embrace amid the Depression, perceiving the practical potential of crafts to lift morale and impart new skills. The government embraced quilts to demonstrate the efficacy of its programs, show women how they could contribute to their families' betterment, and generate empathy for impoverished Americans."-- University of Nebraska Press.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.