Depression Era Quilts in Nebraska

Introduction Dust. Drought. Plummeting farm prices. The stock market crash of 1929. All these factors contributed to Nebraska's woes during the Great Depression of 1929-1940. Like all Americans, Nebraskans responded to the troubles in various ways: planting gardens, forming aid societies, participating in New Deal government aid programs, and making do with what was on hand. And quilting. As in the rest of the country, quilting flourished in Nebraska during the Great Depression. It was partly out of necessity, but also due to the mass-marketing of quilt products, and a cultural trend that emphasized "traditional" skills. This exhibit features sixty quilts in four rotations of fifteen each. They come from the collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society and twelve other Nebraska museums. They show that Nebraskans embraced quilting during this period, both as a way to provide for their family and as a way to create beauty in hard times. Postage Stamp Olive Shurtleff Probably made in Brownville, Nebraska Approximately 1925-1950 98.5" x 96.75" Brownville Historical Society Museum 78.11   Home Arts Magazine, September 1931 Nebraska Farmer magazine, September 1933  Nebraska Farmer magazine, December 1932    Nebraska Farmer magazine, July 1932  Women's Department of the Self-Help Society, incorporated in Grand Island, Nebraska, in February 1935. Source: Locke Collection, courtesy of Steven L. Fuller of Bailey Photography & Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer. 1962-1221-001 Floral Applique Maker Unknown Probably made in Nebraska Circa 1935 35.5" x 23" May Museum 100.17 Basket Emma Gelston Rohner Made in Columbus, Nebraska 1932 84.5" x 66.5" Nebraska State Historical Society, Source: Betty Cowan, Columbus 13128-4 This cotton basket quilt was pieced and quilted by Emma Gelston Rohner. Emma was born in 1870 in Elk City, Nebraska. According to her granddaughter, Emma learned to sew early. She was just three years old when her mother gave her fabric, needle, and thread. Emma married Jake Rohner in 1892. They lived in Belgrade, Fullerton, and finally Columbus, Nebraska.   Emma Rohner Rose Dream Skeedee Quilting Club Made in Nance County, Nebraska 1920-1933 75.5" x 68.5" Nebraska State Historical Society, Source: Helen Alderson, Tempe, Arizona 13105-1 This quilt was made by the Skeedee Quilting Club, part of the Skeedee farm community west of Genoa in Nance County, Nebraska. The name was associated with the Skidi band of the Pawnee Nation, who inhabited the area until the early 1870s. Club members quilted the piece, but it's unknown whether they sewed the top. A scrap of paper pinned to the quilt identified is as "Rose Dream." Album Makers unknown Made in Webster County, Nebraska 1935 84.5" x 71.5" Webster County Historical Society 79.496.1 When Mabel E. McCall of the Mt. Pleasant area had an operation, her friends made this quilt for her.   Crazy Wiggle Creek Club Members Made in Sherman County, Nebraska 1930s 89" x 71.5" Sherman County Historical Society 94.11 Members of the Wiggle Creek Club made the blocks to this quilt and then gave them to Mrs. Henry (Kate) Rademacher, who put them all together. The names of the club members are on the quilt.    One Patch Cora Gregory James Made in Nebraska Circa 1935 83" x 70" International Quilt Study Center 2006.043.0128   Star Album Pleasantville Ladies Aid Made in Nebraska 1930s 94" x 93" Stuhr Museum 2004.0060.001   The Pleasantville Ladies Aid Society made this signature quilt. Flower Pot Katherine Enevold Grunwald Made in Omaha, Nebraska 1935-1945 80" x 58" Nebraska State Historical Society, Source: Berno Marie Anderson, Lincoln 13046-5 Kathrine Enevold Grunwald made these quilts in the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Germany in 1870, she came to live with her sister in Omaha in 1889. Kathrine was a talented seamstress and lace maker. Shortly after her arrival in Omaha, she took a job at a shirt manufacturing company. She married Bernhard Grunwald in 1898. Kathrine and Bernhard raised a family and lived in Omaha for the rest of their lives, where Kathrine used her formidable skills to produce beautiful quilts, lace, and other needlework. Rose Applique Hettie Way Surber Made in South Sioux City, Nebraska 1930s 86.75" x 69.75" Nebraska State Historical Society, Source: Sarah Gorin, Laramie, Wyoming 13164-2 This quilt was made by Hettie Way Surber in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Hettie was born in 1867 in Trenton, Iowa, and married Frank Surber in Waterbury, Nebraska, in 1890. In her home in South Sioux City, Hettie spent much time quilting in an open area with a lot of natural light. Family members were frequent recipients of her handiwork for special occasions like graduations and weddings. Hettie passed away in 1946. Liberty Bell Louise Weiss & Mrs. Benjamin G. Miller Made in Crete, Nebraska 1937-1939 73" x 56" Nebraska State Historical Society, Source: Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.), Nebraska 4735-1 Louise Weiss embroidered and Mrs. Benjamin G. Miller designed this liberty bell quilt to raise money for the Nebraska Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) to purchase a Nebraska state bell for the carillon at Valley Forge.   Stars of Twilight Edith Wilbur Shultz & Lulu Wilbur Testroet Made in Ogallala, Nebraska & Washington, D.C. 1935-1945 Nebraska State Historical Society, Source: Ruth Hahn, Sewickley, Pennsylvania 13159-2 This Stars of Twilight Quilt was pieced by Lulu Wilbur Testroet and quilted by her sister Edith Wilbur Shultz. Most of the scraps came from Edith, who lived in Washington, D.C., and sent them Lulu, who lived on a wheat farm outside Ogallala. Sunflowers Maker Unknown Made in Nebraska 1930-1940 92" x 70" Nebraska State Historical Society, Source: Irene Sibert and Lottie Zerbst, Crawford 10033-7

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