Description: Dated September 19, 1936, this photograph shows women sewing and quilting as part of the Butler County Emergency School sewing and quilting project. Butler County Emergency School was a Works Progress Administration program at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The photograph's caption reads "Butler Count Emergency Schools. Elm St., Oxford, Ohio. Sewing and Quilting, Mrs. Viola Smith, Teacher." The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a government office that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. In the first six months that the WPA existed, more than 173, 000 Ohioans, including both men and women, found employment through this program. More than 1, 500 unemployed teachers in Ohio found work through the WPA teaching illiterate adults how to read. In twelve separate counties, primarily in southeastern Ohio, more than twenty-five percent of families had at least one member working for the WPA during the late 1930s. By the end of 1938, these various workers had built or improved 12, 300 miles of roads and streets and constructed 636 public buildings, several hundred bridges, hundreds of athletic fields, and five fish hatcheries. WPA employees made improvements to thousands of more buildings, roads, and parks within Ohio. WPA artists also painted a number of murals in Ohio post offices. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F04_002_1
Subjects: Quilts; Crocheting; African Americans; Schools--Ohio; Works Progress Administration
Places: Oxford (Ohio); Butler County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1935-1940, this photograph shows ladies sewing as part of the Butler County Emergency School sewing project. Butler County Emergency School was a Works Progress Administration program at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The photograph's caption reads "Middletown, O.. Sewing Project (white) R.R.I. [Rural Route #I], Middletown, Rolling Mill Park. Teacher, Miss Helen Matson. The main objective in this group is Parent Education, Child Study, and Good Citizenship. This is brought about in a tactful manner after interesting the group in crafts and sewing. All Southern people." The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a government office that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. In the first six months that the WPA existed, more than 173, 000 Ohioans, including both men and women, found employment through this program. More than 1, 500 unemployed teachers in Ohio found work through the WPA teaching illiterate adults how to read. In twelve separate counties, primarily in southeastern Ohio, more than twenty-five percent of families had at least one member working for the WPA during the late 1930s. By the end of 1938, these various workers had built or improved 12, 300 miles of roads and streets and constructed 636 public buildings, several hundred bridges, hundreds of athletic fields, and five fish hatcheries. WPA employees made improvements to thousands of more buildings, roads, and parks within Ohio. WPA artists also painted a number of murals in Ohio post offices. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F04_015_1
Subjects: Quilts; Crocheting; Schools--Ohio; United States. Works Progress Administration of Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Middletown (Ohio); Butler County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Mary Borkowski displaying her first quilt to win grand prize at the Ohio State Fair, 1952. The quilt was called "Poinsettia." Borkowski is a nationally recognized folk artist from Dayton, Ohio. She was born in Sulpher Licks Springs, Ohio, in 1916 and died in Dayton in 2008. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03384
Subjects: Quilts; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women
 

Description: Photograph of a quilt titled "Outer Space," created by nationally recognized folk artist Mary Borkowski from Dayton, Ohio, ca. 1965. The quilt was formerly displayed at the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, and is part of the Ohio Historical Society museum collections. Mary was born in Sulpher Lick Springs, Ohio in 1916 and died in Dayton in 2008. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03386
Subjects: Quilts; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women
 

Description: Photograph of a quilt titled the "Greek Quilt," created by nationally recognized folk artist Mary Borkowski from Dayton, Ohio, ca. 1965-1975. Mary was born in Sulpher Lick Springs, Ohio in 1916 and died in Dayton in 2008 View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03387
Subjects: Quilts; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of a quilt titled "Pride of Ohio," created by nationally recognized folk artist Mary Borkowski from Dayton, Ohio, 1969. The star on the central map of Ohio represents the birthplace of astronaut and United States Senator John Glenn. The eight state seals represent the eight Presidents from Ohio. Around each seal are seventeen stars because Ohio was the seventeenth state to join the union. Other Ohio symbols such as the state flower, the carnation; the state bird, the cardinal and the state tree, the Buckeye are also found in the quilt design. The quilt is part of the Ohio Historical Society museum collections. Mary was born in Sulpher Lick Springs, Ohio in 1916 and died in Dayton in 2008. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03388
Subjects: Quilts; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Federal Art Project Dayton Ohio Artist working on designs of old quilts at Art Institute,Nov.24,1936. 4x5 Neg Dec.I,I-8x10 print for News story by James Muir Jan.26-2-8x10 for Columbus" This photo was taken at the Dayton Art Institute. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F09_048_001
Subjects: Quilts--Ohio; Federal Art Project; Design and analysis
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This cotton victory quilt was made by America Hatfield McCoy and her sister-in-law, Rhoda McCoy, in Kentucky. The background of the quilt is white with stitched five-point stars and circles. There are four large blue blocks applied to each corner with a large five-point appliqued white star in each one. The upper left star has the stitched words "DEVIL ANSE/Cpt. Anderson/HATFIELD/Logan Wildats [sic]/1863." The upper right star is stitched "Pvt Harmon McCoy/UNION ARMY / 1863." The lower left-hand star has the embroidered words "PVT / Woodrow McCoy/SON OF / America Hatfield McCoy/'43." The lower right-hand star is stitched "Pvt/CHARLES D. HATFIELD/SON OF/Toland McCoy Hatfield/1943." A long rectangular-shaped blue box is applied in the center with two white boxes with blue five-point stars and a large white V applied to the piece. The V is embroidered with the names "Melissy Hatfield/Rhoda McCoy." The white boxes have the names "Asa McCoy" and "Willie Hatfield" stitched in them. These embroidered names were originally written in pencil by Rhonda McCoy and then women of both families stitched in the names of their kinsmen. There are two red stripes on either side of the rectangle that run the length of the quilt. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05976
Subjects: Cultural Ohio--Art and Artists; Textiles; Quilts; Patriotic quilts; Hatfield-McCoy Feud; United States--History--World War, 1939-1945; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865;
Places: Kentucky
 

Description: Photograph of a quilt titled "Ohio Sunshine," created by nationally recognized folk artist Mary Borkowski from Dayton, Ohio, ca. 1976. The design is similar to the Seal of Ohio and represents the sun rising above Mount Logan near Chillicothe. However, each of the four sun motifs shows both the rising and setting sun over the rolling hills. Mary was born in Sulpher Lick Springs, Ohio in 1916 and died in Dayton in 2008. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03389
Subjects: Quilts; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women
 

Description: Original description reads: "Federal Art Project. Artist working on designs of old quilts at Dayton Art Institute, Nov. 24, 1936." The Federal Art Project (FAP) was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era Works Progress Administration. On April 8, 1935, the United States Congress passed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, which was hoped would allow Americans to cope with the Great Depression. Creation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the most important accomplishment of this Act. This government office hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects. During its existence, the WPA constructed more than 600,000 miles of roads and built or repaired more than 124,000 bridges, 125,000 public buildings, 8,000 parks, and 850 airport runways. The WPA also included programs to support education and the arts, providing employment opportunities for out of work educators and artists of all varieties. Although the United States Congress reduced funding for the program in 1939, the WPA remained in operation until June 30, 1943. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F09_015_001
Subjects: Quilts--Ohio--Dayton; Artists--Ohio--Dayton; Federal Art Project; United States. Works Progress Administration
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Clinton League member Mrs. Alexander McCall posed with heirloom quilts made by her mother. This image was included in a "Memory Book" compiled by Mrs. H. V. Cottrell, historian for the Clinton League (sometimes called the Clinton Welfare League) from 1938-1943. The book shows the development of the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, and records the history of the League. The Clinton League was a women's group founded in 1912 to promote child welfare and later general welfare in Columbus, but which was based in and primarily focused on the area of Clintonville. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P285_MB1_207
Subjects: Clintonville (Ohio); Clinton League; Women--Charities; Quilts;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a photograph of the Works Progress Administration Sewing Class exhibition in Toledo, Ohio. Pictured are handkerchiefs, quilted patterns, crocheted lace and clothing. Women made up around fifteen to twenty percent of WPA-participants and almost every single one of them was involved in a sewing project of some sort. Most women at that time were still sewing by hand, so they received training in using sewing machines. Once they became skilled enough with the machines, they made clothing, bedding and supplies for hospitals and orphanages. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F11_025_001
Subjects: Quilts; Crocheting; Embroidery; Exhibitions--1930-1950; Sewing--United States--History--20th century; United States. Works Progress Administration of Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)