The Quilt Index is a digital portal to tens of thousands of quilts held in private and public collections—with a worldwide reach making this incomparable resource accessible 24/7. The Quilt Index beckons users with a rich kaleidoscope of quilts past, present—and ultimately—future. For over 20 years, countless contributors have created and shared the wealth of quilt images and information found there. Through the lens of quilts, The Quilt Index is about enabling connections between people.

Quilts from The Henry Ford’s collection first joined The Quilt Index in 2013, an unexpected opportunity born of a match of interest and skills. Amanda Messer (a member of our Food Service staff touring our quilt storage during a staff conference) asked if any of The Henry Ford’s quilts were on The Quilt Index. When she learned that they weren’t, Amanda immediately asked if she could help make this happen. Although I had numerous other projects on my plate, I had an enthusiastic young woman willing and available to do the work. So that June I took the plunge. Student volunteers Lauren Eckler and Amanda Craig soon joined the project. Since these team members were new to quilts, I recruited a quilt-savvy volunteer, quiltmaker Emily Nietering, to guide them in gathering the information requested about each quilt. This project team worked diligently and collaboratively through the summer and fall of 2013; chief registrar Lisa Korzetz and I provided guidance and helped troubleshoot as needed when challenges arose.

Quilts selected for inclusion in the project were those for which The Henry Ford already had quality images. (Because of their size, quilts are more complicated and time consuming to photograph, so not all our quilt images were Quilt Index-ready at that time.) Descriptive information previously captured in EMu, our museum collections management system, provided the basis for describing each quilt for The Index. Some of the catalog records were more complete than others, and there were a few differences in the way The Quilt Index organized and articulated information in their database. Amanda Messer developed a catalog form, organized and identified by The Quilt Index fields, on which to record additional information as each quilt was examined in person. Lauren and Amanda Craig gathered information on the quilts as Emily Nietering coached them in analyzing quilt patterns and construction. Curatorial volunteers Gil Gallagher and Chris Jeryan researched biographical information for the identified makers represented, providing personal context for some of the quilts. Amanda Messer, skilled at navigating the quirks of KORA (The Quilt Index’s software program at that time), inputted gathered data.¹ By December 2013, 121 quilts—quilts that delighted the eye, touched the heart, and served as textile documents of social and cultural history—had been entered into The Quilt Index. [see https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=museums&kid=12-51-24  AND https://quiltindex.org/results/?search=quilts&qproject=The%20Henry%20Ford%20Collection ] What does all this mean to me as curator? And to The Henry Ford? The Quilt Index project—which came about by chance, was carried out by dedicated volunteers, and included a significant portion of our quilts—has had broad impact. The Henry Ford is delighted to have contributed to the development of the unparalleled research resource that is The Quilt Index. Many of our quilts are now readily accessible to a worldwide audience. While The Henry Ford makes images and information about its quilts available through our robust Digital Collections database (which was in its early years of development when our Quilt Index project occurred), The Quilt Index reaches countless numbers of people who might not find their way to our website.

More recently, our participation in the Black Diaspora Quilt History Project has offered new opportunities to share quilts from our collection. As The Henry Ford Museum continues to acquire quilts made by African American makers, we are including them in The Quilt Index, as well as quilts relating to social justice issues.  Thirty-two quilts in our collection made by rural Alabama quiltmaker Susana Allen Hunter (1912-2005) of Wilcox County, had been previously shared on The Quilt Index. Now, an online version of our exhibit, Quilting Genius: The Improvisational Quilts of Susana Allen Hunter, shown in Henry Ford Museum in 2008, lives on in The Quilt Index. [see https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=exhibits&kid=12-91-1398]

This digital experience includes not only Susana Hunter’s quilts—but also items from Susana’s home. These everyday objects provide context for Susana’s life, immersing readers in the story of this impoverished, resourceful Alabama quiltmaker and her inspiring creativity. It delights me that Susana—and other previously unknown talented quiltmakers like her—now find well-deserved recognition among a global community of people interested in quilts.

The Quilt Index preserves and shares cultural wealth in an invaluable way. It will continue to capture the creativity and stories of thousands of quiltmakers, as it provides a network for a growing body of quilt-related research and resources—offering rich information and inspiration both now and for future generations.

By Jeanine Head Miller
Submitted February 2025
Jeanine Head Miller is the Curator of Domestic Life at The Henry Ford and has decades of experience in the history museum field in a variety of creative and managerial roles. Miller’s varied background blends perspectives from the fields of American history, art history, theater, and psychology into the creation of content-rich, engaging museum exhibits, publications, and programs. She has a special love for quilts, having learned the art from her grandmother as a teenager.

¹Amanda Messner, “The Henry Ford’s Quilts and The Quilt Index”, The Henry Ford, Blog. December 12, 2013. https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/the-henry-fords-quilts-and-the-quilt-index. Accessed February 11, 2025.
²Ellice Engdahl, “Just Added to Our Digital Collections: More Quilts from The Quilt Index”, The Henry Ford. Blog. May 13, 2014. https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/just-added-to-our-digital-collections-more-quilts-from-the-quilt-index. Accessed February 11, 2025.