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   from the issue of October 5, 2006

     
 
  Ghormley volunteers expertise, collection

Stitched in history

 BY TROY FEDDERSON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Mary Ghormley never meant to get hooked on quilting.

 
PERSONAL FAVORITE - Mary Ghormley, a quilt collector and volunteer at the International Quilt Study Center, shows Maureen Ose, communications coordinator...
 PERSONAL FAVORITE - Mary Ghormley, a quilt collector and volunteer at the International Quilt Study Center, shows Maureen Ose, communications coordinator for the quilt center, the back of a doll quilt. Ghormley said the back of quilts are as fascinating as the intricate fronts. Photo by Troy Fedderson/University Communications.

"I had a few quilts made by my mother and grandmother, but I never really thought about them much," said Ghormley, a volunteer at the International Quilt Study Center and founding member of the Lincoln Quilter's Guild. "I really loved them. But quilting was something I was not interested in."

Still, the quilting bug bit in the 1960s. A friend picked up the hobby and passed it onto Ghormley.

"That's how all this got started," Ghormley said, explaining a personal collection of 200 quilts and some 300 doll quilts.

At first, Ghormley was content to make her own quilts and teach others the craft. In the 1970s, she began teaching. That led Ghormley and others to form the Lincoln Quilter's Guild in 1973. By the national bicentennial year of 1976, individual desire to learn quilting was growing rapidly.

"Everyone became interested in the colonial days and wanted to learn how to quilt," Ghormley said. "I continued to teach classes in my basement, but when a few other teachers came along, I decided not to do that anymore."

That was when her attentions turned to collecting.

DISPLAY READY - Mary Ghormley's doll quilts sit ready for display as Janet Price, a graduate student in textiles history examines...
 
DISPLAY READY - Mary Ghormley's doll quilts sit ready for display as Janet Price, a graduate student in textiles history examines a quilt in the International Quilt Study Center on Sept. 29. Photo by Troy Fedderson/University Communications.

 

"When I saw one in an antique store or at a garage sale, I bought it," Ghormley said. "I got acquainted with a dealer out east and she would let me know when she had one. She would show me a picture of it, and I would buy it."

Each purchase is recorded in a database to help provide information about future study. From the beginning, Ghormley has collected quilts to preserve history.

"Up until recently, people did not study women's history," said Ghormley. "Quilts are a record of that history. We study them to get to know the women and culture of the era."

In 1986, Ghormley was selected by Patricia Crews, director of UNL's International Quilt Study Center, to lead the Nebraska Quilt Project. The project documented the rich quilting heritage of Nebraska, resulting in the book "Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers."

The book, written by Crews examined 5,000 quilts and 3,000 makers. Ghormley and the others who traveled Nebraska for the project named themselves the "Wednesday Girls," as they would gather on Wednesdays to review and classify quilts.

Before the International Quilt Study Center was established, Ghormley brought in quilts from her collection for faculty and students to study.

"Mary has been very supportive of and generous with my students for more than 20 years," said Crews. "She opened her home and personal library to a series of my graduate students. Their work, often researched at a table in Mary's home, led to presentations at scholarly meetings, a number of publications in refereed journals and the basis of research for 'Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers.'"

At 87, Ghormley continues to collect historically significant quilts and is committed to educating others about quilting. She volunteers time each week at the quilt center, giving tours to visitors and passing on her knowledge.

"I'm still quilting too," Ghormley said. "It's my therapy.

"I enjoy being around quilts and being involved with the quilt center. This is a wonderful place."


GO TO: ISSUE OF OCTOBER 5

NEWS HEADLINES FOR OCTOBER 5

Research on call
Construction begins on new virology center
Damuth helps guide undergrads toward prominent scholarships
Ghormley doll quilts on display through March
Stitched in history
Faculty respond favorably to General Education objectives
Verbatem

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