On this day in 1800, the Library of Congress was established using $5,000 appropriated by President John Adams to purchase “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress.”Today, the collection, housed in three enormous buildings in Washington, contains more than 17 million books, as well as millions of maps, manuscripts, photographs, films, audio and video recordings, prints, and drawings. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, created by Congress in 1976, is the national center for folklife documentation and research.

Bertha Marion of Galax, Virginia made this Applique Rose quilt in August 1978. It was documented by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress as part of the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project. This ethnographic field project was conducted by the American Folklife Center in cooperation with the National Park Service and includes 229 photographs and 181 recorded interviews with six quiltmakers in Appalachian North Carolina and Virginia.

View this quilt on The Quilt Index to find out! Read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about that quilt.

Source:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/library-of-congress-established

Posted by Amy E. Milne
Executive Director, Quilt Alliance
amy.milne@quiltalliance.org