Center for Design and Material Culture

Politics at Home: Textiles as American History

graphic design with multiple stylized eagles and title of politics from home

Online Exhibition

Politics structures how people live together in communities. It addresses governance, power dynamics, resource allocation, and may cause allegiance, negotiation, and conflict. Political ideas shape civic, national, and international arenas, but they are often formed within the home.

Featuring work from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection from the 18th through the 21st centuries, this exhibition includes a breadth of domestic textiles that demonstrate how public discourses of American politics have always had a meaningful presence within the home. Through production, consumption, and conscious display of textiles, including quilts, pillowcases, furnishing fabric samples, handkerchiefs, and ornaments, objects in the home signal political beliefs and ideals. Join us in exploring participation and representation in American politics in the home through textiles.

This exhibition was on view in the Ruth Davis Design Gallery from September 1 – November 14, 2021.

quilt on a black background sewn in red, white, and blue fabric with a backwards U.S. flag at the center.
Crib Quilt. 1876. North America. Quilted fabric. 52×44″. HLATC # Q.S.US.0134. Purchased with HLATC funds.

In the News:

Textiles on Campus: A Panel Discussion on the Possibilities of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection

Politics at Home: Textiles as American History and Lace from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection both showcase treasures from our world renowned textile collection. This panel features faculty, curators, students, and collection stewards who make this vital resource available to our community. The discussion will focus on how the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection came to be, what is currently in its holdings, how is the Collection used, and what are the possibilities for growing this Collection in thoughtfully.