Bandy Heritage Center to open new exhibit
May 17, 2018
On Friday, May 18, 2018, the Bandy Heritage Center will open its new exhibit "Threads of Home: The Sandra Mahs Collection" at the Old Freight Depot Gallery located at 305 S. Depot Street in Dalton, Georgia.
In the early decades of the twentieth century, hand-tufted and machine-tufted bedspreads profoundly shaped the fortunes, futures, and legacy of the people of Northwest Georgia. What would be termed a “craft” today became a regional industry, which within just a few years, provided people with employment other than farm work; enabled women to earn money for themselves and their families; and gave clever, talented, but underemployed men work designing, building, and maintaining the machinery necessary for the burgeoning industry.
This exhibit showcases the hand-tufted and machine-tufted bedspread collection of Sandra Mahs of Edwardsville, Illinois. Over the course of twenty years, Sandra Mahs, granddaughter of local bedspread “hauler” George Stephenson, scoured the antique shops and flea markets of Illinois and Missouri on a quest to acquire tufted bedspreads that not only exemplified the ingenuity and craftsmanship of Northwest Georgia’s people but also reflected her own family history. In her search, Sandra always hoped that one of her bedspreads had been carried by her grandfather or worked by him and his family since many haulers also tufted bedspreads. While watching her collection grow, Sandra also added other tufted items such as aprons, bed jackets, and crib spreads. As a testament to the wide distribution beyond Dalton these items enjoyed, the collection includes bedspreads Sandra found—or as she says “found her”—in from as varied places as California, New York, Vermont, and Florida.
In 2006, Sandra curated an exhibit of these handicrafts at Southern Illinois University. It was then that Sandra realized that these objects of Northwest Georgia’s textile heritage needed to “come home,” and she generously donated the collection to the Bandy Heritage Center. Sandra’s collection illustrates how something as simple as a bedspread could profoundly change the economy, the lives, and the destiny of a region.
"Threads of Home" will be on display at the Old Freight Depot Gallery through September 30, 2018. The self-guided exhibition is free and open to the public. The Gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00am to 5:00pm.