- Directed by
- Unidentified Woman or Women
- Owned by
- Moton, Jennie B., American, 1879 - 1942
- Subject of
- Tuskegee Institute, American, founded 1881
- Date
- 1915-1935
- Medium
- cotton
- Dimensions
- H x W (a): 111 × 93 in. (281.9 × 236.2 cm)
- H x W (b): 7 × 7 1/8 in. (17.8 × 18.1 cm)
- Caption
- Jennie Dee Booth Moton was the wife of Robert R. Moton, who served as the principal of Tuskegee Institute from 1915 to 1935. As the principal's wife, Moton served several roles at the school. From 1924 to 1935 she was the director of the Department of Women's Industries and the president of the Tuskegee Woman's Club. Moton was involved in the African American women's club movement, serving two terms as president of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) and, from 1929 to 1936, as president of the Alabama Association of Women's Clubs (AAWC). She was a member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's so-called Black Cabinet, which persuaded him to issue Executive Order 8802 prohibiting discrimination in the defense industry in1941. This yo-yo coverlet was made for Moton by unidentified female students at Tuskegee Institute.
- Description
- Yo-yo coverlet made from plain muslin by female students of Tuskegee Institute for Jennie Dee Booth Moton. The yo-yos are made by gathering the edges into the middle of one side and pulling tight into pleats. Each yoyo has an empty circle in the middle of the pleated side and is plain on the back side. They are hand sewn together to form the coverlet, with open spaces between their round edges. At the vertical center the yo-yos are sewn overlapping, with two (2) columns stacked on top of each other. Ten (10) triangles made from six (6) yo-yos each are sewn along the bottom edge of the coverlet. There were likely originally twelve (12) triangles, with the bottom right corner now empty and the bottom left corner only having two (2) extra yo-yos sewn. There are thirteen (13) extra yo-yos sewn along the upper portion of the left side of the coverlet, forming a partial column.
- The fragment (b) consists of ten (10) of the muslin yo-yos sewn in the shape of a triangle.
- Place made
- Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Textiles and Quilts
- Furnishings, Housewares, and Décor
- Type
- bed coverings
- Topic
- Associations and institutions
- Communities
- Craftsmanship
- Domestic life
- Education
- HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
- Ornamentation
- Women
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Charlotte Moton Hubbard
- Object number
- 2009.15ab
- Restrictions & Rights
- No Known Copyright Restrictions
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




