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Plate, ca. 1805 |
Mary Alice Premble was
born in Indianola, Iowa on June 9, 1917, one of six children.
Although she had always had an enthusiasm for fabrics, she was
also involved in sports and was named representative All-Around Girl
Athlete in high school. She
graduated from Iowa State College and married Tom Barton in 1942, giving
birth to four sons in the years to come.
Her immense interest in the history of quilts began in the 1960s,
when both her great-grandmothers gave her a few family quilts. Her interest
continued
to grow as she studied each history behind a quilt.
She determined the age of the fabric by studying the colors,
dyes and the way it was sewn (the closer the stitches, the older the
quilt). Throughout the
years, Mary has collected information on all types of fabrics dating
back to the 1800s in order for her detective work on each quilt she
studies to be accurate. She
is passionate about the history of the quilt, and the stories of the
people involved with it. One
of her main concerns is keeping the heritage of Iowans in Iowa. In order to maintain this, she has donated much of her own
quilt collection and fabric samplings to various museums; the largest
collection is in the State Historical Society. |
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Fashion Plates from ca. 1805 Additional Plates Coming Soon |
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Introduction
/ List / ISU History / Resources
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Twentieth Century Women of Iowa State
University
Comments: archives@iastate.edu
URL: http://historicexhibits.lib.iastate.edu/20thWomen/revisedSept2005/20thcenturywomen.html