October 16, 2014
Marla Day reviews textiles for Smithsonian Save our African American treasures program
Marla Day, senior curator at the K-State Historic Costume and Textiles Museum, served as textile reviewer for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Save Our African American Treasures program in Birmingham, Alabama, recently.
The program, launched in 2008, encourages the preservation of objects of African-American material culture.
Day has participated in eight of the events in various cities across the United States. At each event, members of the public learn how to preserve their family photographs, papers, quilts and other ephemera that document African-American life.
The K-State museum, part of the apparel, textiles and interior design department in the College of Human Ecology, has a notable collection of more than 15,000 traditional and artistic artifacts, the oldest dating back to the Byzantine period.
The collection exhibits selected pieces in rotating displays throughout Justin Hall and currently at the Flint Hills Discovery Center.