Kent State University Museum

I read a book called Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker that told the story of Elizabeth Keckley.  She was a freed slave who worked for Mrs. Lincoln.  In the book, a quilt she made for the First Lady was discussed.  It turns out that it is at a museum near here.  I’d never heard of it.  We went to visit it today.

The first thing to know is that the Keckley quilt is not on display.  There was a picture of it in a book at the gift store.  I showed it to the husband and pointed out the hexagons.

I said that they were like the hexagons I made sometimes when we watch TV.  He didn’t seem to know what I was talking about even though I was doing it last night.  Once he remembered he declared that I obviously belonged in some other century.

They have a large collection of Katherine Hepburn’s clothing.  The only ones on display right now was a group of her nightgowns in the underwear display.  Can you imagine someone wanting to display your underwear?

   Of course I don’t have nightwear this stylish but if anyone ever wants my fleece Scotty dog nightshirt they are welcome to it.

  There was a display of fans. That was amazing.  They also had a display on liturgical vestments and a large sections on examples of resist dyeing like shibori and batik.

The collections change often.  There is a permanent display of clothing from the 1700s to the early 20th century.  There are not a lot of mannequins on display but the clothing on them changes often.  They also have a great online catalogue (where some of these images come from) with information about the whole collection.