Minneapolis Institute of Art

Quilt top

United States

Date

1901

Medium

Cotton, pieced and embroidered

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

In 1901 Buffalo, New York, hosted the Pan-American Exposition, featuring the cutting-edge technology of hydroelectric power, generated by Niagara Falls. The expo is now best remembered as the place where President William McKinley was fatally shot by a political dissident. This quilt top is composed of squares that were sold at the expo for a penny apiece, with designs on them for quilters to embroider. Several depict the expo buildings. The Electric Tower, a monument to the “age of electricity, ” appears near the middle, just below the U.S. flag. President McKinley and his wife also are centrally placed. Such craft souvenirs were designed to entice female fairgoers. United States, Americas

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