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Michigan State University Museum Quilt Collections

The Michigan State University Museum holds one of the world's most significant quilt collections, recognized for the diversity of its holdings, rare and unique objects, and discrete collections representing key eras of quilting scholarship as well as extensive ethnographic and archival research. In 1952, the first quilts were accessioned into the MSU Museum’s collections when the museum acquired the entire contents of another museum that closed. Through subsequent donations from collectors and quilters, along with acquisitions based on research activities, the MSU Museum now holds more than 1200 significant historical and contemporary quilts. Acquisitions have been supported in part by funds from three modest endowments, contributions from individuals and groups throughout Michigan, and, for special quilt research projects, the MSU Development Fund, the MSU Office of the Provost, and the MSU Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. The quilt collections are housed in a state-of-the-art rolled storage system in the MSU Museum’s Cultural Collections Repository.

Unique Collections Include:

Unique and outstanding items in the collection include "The Sun Sets on Sunbonnet Sue" quilt made in 1979 by "Seamsters Union Local #500" in Lawrence, Kansas, and "Star of Bethlehem" quilt made in 1912 by Mrs. Ogahmahgegedo, an Odawa quilter from Ahgosatown, Leelanau County, Michigan.

The MSU Museum also houses MTAP's Michigan Quilt Project files and archival materials (recorded interviews, photos, field notes, patterns and other ephemera), including the national Quilters Save Our Stories (QSOS) and Quilt Treasures projects conducted in partnership with The Alliance for American Quilts. In addition, the Museum houses a room-use only library of over 1000 quilt and textile books, including the Eve Boicourt collection.

Donors and Fieldworkers

Kitty Clark Cole, Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, Merry and Albert Silber, Harriet Clarke, Betty Quarton Hoard, Eve Boicourt, Deborah Harding, and numerous other donors

Exhibitions

"American Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum," Mitsukoshi Department Store, Tokyo, Japan, January 28 - February 9, 2003; Takashimaya Department Store Namba, Osaka, Japan, March 5 - 19, 2003; Mitsukoshi Department Store, Niigata, Japan, May 7 - 12, 2003; Mitsukoshi Department Store Station Museum, Kyoto, Japan, December 4 - 28, 2003.

"Quilts Old and New: Reproductions from the Great Lakes Quilt Center," Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, January 12 - August 17, 2003.

"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.

"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 - April 23, 2006.

"MSU Museum Quilts," MSU Union in association with the American Quilt Study Group annual meeting, October 15-16, 1999.

"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.

"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. 

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"Michigan Quilts," International Quilt Market and Festival, Chicago, Illinois, May 9-14, 1989.

"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: 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.

"Heritage Quilts," Battle Creek Art Center, Battle Creek, Michigan, September 2-27, 1987.

"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.

Publications

Marsha MacDowell. Quilt Arts of South Africa: Threaded Legacies. Indiana University Press, 2025.

Marsha MacDowell, Clare Luz, and Beth Donaldson. Quilts and Health. Indiana University Press, 2017.

Marsha MacDowell, Beth Donaldson, Lynne Swanson, and Mary Worrall. Quilts and Human Rights. University of Nebraska Press, 2016.

Marsha MacDowell, and Carolyn Mazloomi. Quilts, Conscience of the Human Spirit: The Life of Nelson Mandela: Tributes by Quilt Artists from South Africa and the United States. Michigan State University Museum: In association with the Women of Color Quilters Network, 2014.

Marsha MacDowell, ed. Great Lakes, Great Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum. C&T Publishing, Inc., 2001.

Marsha MacDowell, "To Honour and Comfort," in Quilters' Review, Winter 2001.

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, ed. African American Quiltmaking in Michigan. Michigan State University Press with the Michigan State University Museum, 1997.

Marsha MacDowell and C. Kurt Dewhurst, eds. To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions. Museum of New Mexico Press in association with Michigan State University Museum, 1997.

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. Michigan State University Museum, 1996.

Marsha MacDowell, "African-American Quiltmaking Traditions in Michigan," in Yvonne R. Lockwood and Ruth D. Fitzgerald, eds. 1992 Festival of Michigan Folklife. Michigan State University Museum, 1992.

Gwen Marston and Joe Cunningham. Mary Schafer and Her Quilts. Michigan State University Museum, 1990.

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. Michigan State University Museum, 1988.

Marsha MacDowell and Ruth D. Fitzgerald. Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition. Michigan State University Museum, 1987.

Gwen Marston. Q is for Quilt: An ABC Quilt Pattern Book. Michigan State University Museum, 1987.

Lynne Swanson and Marsha MacDowell, eds. Quilts from the Albert and Merry Silber Collection. Michigan State University Museum, 1987.

Flying Geese, maker unknown, Pennsylvania, c. 1840-1860

Flying Geese, maker unknown, Pennsylvania, c. 1840-1860

Trip Around the World, Bozena Clarke, Detroit, Michigan, c. 1930s

Trip Around the World, Bozena Clarke, Detroit, Michigan, c. 1930s