A new exhibit at The Henry Ford museum is making the case that the clothes on your back - and the quilt on your bed - have as much to say about American history as any document or photograph.
“Fabric of America,” on display through Sept. 13, draws on the museum’s collection of historic garments, textiles and artifacts to trace the last 250 years of the United States through the medium of cloth.
Katherine White, curator of design for The Henry Ford, said the exhibit was built around the idea that fabric offers a universal point of entry for understanding the past.
“Fabric is something that we all have an understanding of,” White said. “It’s common ground. We all understand what it’s like to wear clothing, what it’s like to touch a tablecloth or sit in a comfortable chair. We know what that feels like, and so there’s common ground. And so, it allows us to then understand those histories through that starting point of connection.”
The exhibit is deliberately non-chronological and does not aim to be a comprehensive account of American history. Instead, it spotlights individual stories and the cultural moments that surrounded them - including early political campaign materials - as seen through the lens of textile.
“We wanted to show a variety of people’s perspectives and their stories and things that were important dealing with fabric and also dealing with the cultural moment of the time,” White said.
The scope of the exhibit extends well beyond clothing. White noted that fabric permeates domestic life in ways that often go unnoticed.
“Babies are wrapped in baby blankets, quilts are on our beds, there’s upholstered furniture in our living rooms,” she said. “Heirloom tablecloths are passed down from generation to generation. Fabric is many different things.”
Preparing the exhibit required significant behind-the-scenes labor. White said dressing a single mannequin required more than a full day’s work from the museum’s trained conservators.
Some of the items on display have never before been shown publicly. White called the exhibition “really quite special,” noting its limited engagement makes it possible to exhibit pieces that might not otherwise leave storage.
“Fabric of America” runs exclusively at The Henry Ford through Sept. 13.
For more information visit TheHenryFord.org.