In this lecture, Dr. Janneken Smucker talks about how the federal government used quilts during the Great Depression of the 1930s as a way to put people back to work and symbolically to help lift public morale. Drawing on her book, "A New Deal for Quilts," published by the IQM in 2023, Smucker will share stories of American quiltmakers coping with the Great Depression and the government programs that supported them, while exploring parallels between quilts’ roles during the 1930s economic crisis and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Janneken Smucker is a professor and historian specializing in digital history, public history, and material culture at West Chester University (West Chester, PA) and is author of "Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013).
The International Quilt Museum is very grateful to Humanities Nebraska for supporting this lecture, with additional funding from the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Humanities Nebraska is a statewide, non-profit organization helping Nebraskans explore what connects us and makes us human. If you enjoy this type of programming, please consider supporting Humanities Nebraska with a contribution.