The MSU Museum’s Michigan Traditional Arts Research Collection is a repository of objects and materials documenting traditional culture of Michigan and the Great Lakes region. The collection houses archival and fieldwork research completed by staff, students, and contracted consultants and generous donations of individuals. The collection also contains comparative materials from other parts of the world. Nearly 2000 audio tapes of interviews and musical performances, 75,000 photographic images, 300 field reports, and vertical files of reference materials on a variety of folklife subjects make up the collection. The Research Collection serves as the home for the Michigan Quilt Project files, numbering over 7000, and quilt-related ephemera, including materials from the Mary Schafer and Clarke Family collections, clippings from the old Detroit News Quilt Corner columns, and newsletters from quilt guilds in Michigan.

In addition, the museum’s library includes almost one thousand quilt-related titles donated by Eve Boicourt, a full run of Uncoverings, and a number of popular periodicals.

Both the archive and the library are available to researchers by appointment on a room-use basis only. To schedule an appointment or to discuss a possible donation, contact Lynne Swanson, Collections Manager, by phone: 517- 355-3304 or by email: swansonl@msu.edu.

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