Getting distracted at the Smithsonian - A Clarksville quilt

Per usual in my pursuit of historical inquiry, I am distracted by the National Museum of American History's searchable website.  Did you know a unique piece of Clarksville history somehow found its way to the Smithsonian?

The picture below really doesn't do it justice so follow this link for a lovely color photo.  http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_556249

It is a red and white embroidered coverlet from 1922 that was probably used as a fundraiser for the Clarksville Reformed Church.  Each of the 48 flowers has 12 petals covered with various names and inscriptions.  Most petals are simply names or signatures.

Here's what is written on the petals of one flower:

Rev. Boyce
Pastor
Peggy
His wife
Rex
Their dog
Clarksville
Reformed
Church
Fair
Dec 8th
1922

Another flower has only two names, Clara Weidman and Faith Weidman along with beautifully embroidered flowers within the flower petals. Right next to Clara and Faith's flower is one that is clearly an  advertisement - carefully written out on each petal is the following:

The
Lowest
Priced
Fully
Equipped
Automobile
Gardner
Wright
Chevrolet
Motor Cars
Economical
Transportation

Remember this is 1922!

Go to the website above and zoom in and around on the petals and you'll find lots of Bethlehem/New Scotland family names like Houck, Slingerland, Relyea, Pangburn and Glenn just to name a very few.

And yes, I know Clarksville is not in Bethlehem, but what a wonderful snip-it of local history.

And just because I can, here are three old Clarksville postcards.

Mid Century Bethlehem at the library

Head on over to the Bethlehem Public Library to take a look at the exhibit I just installed today.  Mid Century Bethlehem features Bethlehem images from the 1950s and 60s.

Like these two guys...

and this gal...

(This young woman is Diane Hunter and I hadn't had the picture up on the wall for two minutes before someone stopped by to say they remembered her from high school.)


Or how about this street scene...

See more pictures at the library!
The show will be up for the month of October, which just happens to be Archives Month.