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Cuesta Benberry Ephemera Collection at the Michigan State University Museum
Cuesta Benberry was one of the twentieth-century's pioneers of research on American quiltmaking and she was the pioneer of research on African American quiltmaking. Benberry's ephemera collection is housed in the Michigan State University Museum.
When she passed away on August 23, 2007, she left behind a legacy of public scholarship and her collections. After her death her family offered her quilt, quilt kit, and some of her papers to the Michigan State University Museum. In 2009, the American Folk Art Museum, to which Cuesta had given her Euro-American quilt history collection six years earlier, transferred those collections to MSU Museum.
Benberry collected:
• her notebooks and scrapbooks;
• quilt patterns and quilt-related ephemera, guild newsletters, exhibition catalogues, posters, magazines, and journals – including many rare and unique items;
• a large library of books on American and African American history, art, and quiltmaking;
• files relating to Benberry’s own publications and on publications by other authors (including Kyra Hicks, Roland Freeman, and the authors of Hidden in Plain View); and hundreds of notes, clippings from magazines and newspapers, and photographs that encompass general African American history, African American artists, museums and exhibitions with an African American focus, and, of course, quilts, quilt exhibitions, and quiltmaking.
The Cuesta Benberry/American Folk Art Museum Quilt Research Collection includes:
• a large library of books on American history, art, and quiltmaking;
• scrapbooks and photographs;
• clipping files from magazines and newspapers;
• correspondence;
• quilt patterns and quilt-related ephemera, guild newsletters, exhibition catalogues, posters, magazines, and journals – including many rare and unique item and
• Research notes and files.
When she passed away on August 23, 2007, she left behind a legacy of public scholarship and her collections. After her death her family offered her quilt, quilt kit, and some of her papers to the Michigan State University Museum. In 2009, the American Folk Art Museum, to which Cuesta had given her Euro-American quilt history collection six years earlier, transferred those collections to MSU Museum.
Benberry collected:
• her notebooks and scrapbooks;
• quilt patterns and quilt-related ephemera, guild newsletters, exhibition catalogues, posters, magazines, and journals – including many rare and unique items;
• a large library of books on American and African American history, art, and quiltmaking;
• files relating to Benberry’s own publications and on publications by other authors (including Kyra Hicks, Roland Freeman, and the authors of Hidden in Plain View); and hundreds of notes, clippings from magazines and newspapers, and photographs that encompass general African American history, African American artists, museums and exhibitions with an African American focus, and, of course, quilts, quilt exhibitions, and quiltmaking.
The Cuesta Benberry/American Folk Art Museum Quilt Research Collection includes:
• a large library of books on American history, art, and quiltmaking;
• scrapbooks and photographs;
• clipping files from magazines and newspapers;
• correspondence;
• quilt patterns and quilt-related ephemera, guild newsletters, exhibition catalogues, posters, magazines, and journals – including many rare and unique item and
• Research notes and files.
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Museum
Michigan State University Museum Michigan Quilt Project