Midwestern Amish crib quilts on exhibit in Goshen College Library Gallery Feb. 29-May 21; Alum and Amish quilt expert Janneken Smucker to curate exhibit

 

GOSHEN, Ind. -- Janneken Smucker, a Goshen native and 1998 Goshen College graduate as well as the co-author of the book, "Amish Crib Quilts from the Midwest: The Sara Miller Collection," (Good Books, 2003) is bringing what is likely the world's largest collection of Amish crib quilts back home.

The upcoming exhibit "Midwestern Amish Crib Quilts" will open Sunday, Feb. 29 in the Goshen College Library Gallery with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m., and continue through May 21. It will feature the University of Nebraska's International Quilt Study Center's (IQSC) Sara Miller Collection, which includes 90 crib quilts made between 1900 and 1950 in Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas and Illinois.

 

Smucker -- a 2003 recipient of a master's degree in textile history, with a quilt studies emphasis, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln -- was the curator for the exhibit's premiere at the University of Nebraska and will also curate at the Goshen College exhibition. "I am especially glad to bring this exhibit to a geographic area in which some of these quilts were made. In a sense, some of these quilts are coming home," Smucker said. "I think the community here will have a particular interest because of the large Amish and Mennonite population in the surrounding area and their familiarity with many aspects of Amish culture."

 

The collection encompasses numerous typical patterns found in Amish quilts including bars, nine-patch and whole-cloth patterns made in rich, dark colors, but also includes quilts with soft pastel colors made in the 1930s and 1940s. Many of the small quilts have intricate and carefully stitched quilting patterns very much like their larger counterparts.

Unfortunately, little is known about the individual makers of these quilts. Nor is there solid documentation on where the quilts were made. Using the information about where the quilts were acquired and collaborative evidence in the form of stylistic clues in pattern, color and setting often suggest where a specific quilt likely was made. Similarly, none of the quilts are dated. An estimated date range for each quilt has been assigned, also based on style. Even without this information, the quilts provide great visual delight and reveal aspects of Midwestern Amish culture in terms of conformity, adaptation and interaction with mainstream society.

"I know that these Amish crib quilts will delight viewers visually," Smucker said. "I also hope that exhibit goers will discover how quilts are another way of studying a culture and its history. They, like books, can be read and analyzed to gain an understanding of past experiences."

According to the IQSC, these small Amish quilts reveal a great deal about the cultural intersections the Amish experienced and continue to navigate as they made decisions in relation to, and often in reaction to, mainstream American society. In contrast to the well-known Amish groups living in Lancaster County in southeastern Pennsylvania, the Midwestern Amish experienced greater interaction with the "English" society (as the Amish refer to the non-Amish). This contact resulted in the adoption and adaptation of mainstream American quilt patterns. The Midwestern Amish also created distinctive quilts in patterns commonly made by the Lancaster County Amish in a way that resulted in improvisational quilt construction and design.

When the IQSC first announced its acquisition of collection in 2000, Amish quilt experts were surprised to learn that this many Amish crib quilts existed. Crib quilts were, in fact, made with some frequency among Old Order Amish groups living in the Midwest. Amish quiltmakers of Lancaster County, on the other hand, did not produce many crib quilts. Not surprisingly, quilt experts most familiar with quilts from Lancaster County, the most commonly exhibited, researched and recognizable of Amish quilts, had not been exposed to the crib quilts of the Midwest.

 

In 1985, Sara Miller of Kalona, Iowa, owner of a successful fabric and quilt shop, began collecting Amish crib quilts. Smucker said, "Aside from aesthetic interest [of the crib quilts], I was fascinated by how Sara Miller, a woman who spent most of her life as a member of the Old Order Amish, amassed such a significant collection of Amish material culture. She was an insider who collected from her own culture; similarly, studying this collection, I also felt like an insider because of my Mennonite background." Miller is hoping to attend the opening reception for the Goshen College exhibit of the collection.

Smucker first became interested in quilt making as a high schooler when her mother and grandmother helped her make her first project. In graduate school, Smucker said, "I was able to combine my own interest in quiltmaking with my academic background studying history and women's studies, as well as my own cultural heritage."

 

Smucker holds a master's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in textile history (quilt studies emphasis) with a minor in museum studies. While at Goshen College, she majored in history and minored in women's studies. She is the co-author of the book, "Amish Crib Quilts from the Midwest: The Sara Miller Collection," published by Good Books in 2003. Her research interests include Amish and Mennonite quilts and quiltmakers, intercultural aspects of material culture and Anabaptist history. Smucker grew up in Goshen and graduated from Goshen High School. She is currently living in Philadelphia and is researching quilts made by the Old Order Amish groups in Mifflin County, Pa.

The Mennonite-Amish Museum Committee sponsors the exhibit and it is dedicated to the memory of Silas and Esther Meck Smucker. The Library Gallery, located on the lower level of the Wilma and Harold Good Library, is open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday and 1-11 p.m. Sunday.

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values -- passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership -- prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, Kaplan's "Most Interesting Colleges" guide and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit https://www.goshen.edu/.

Editors: For more information, contact Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.



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