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Grape Carrier

by | Agriculture, Artifact of the Month

Donated by Martha Brogdon

Historically, grape production in Northwest Arkansas centered in Washington County. While grapes were grown by the first settlers to the region, the crop did not become a major one until residents of the Italian community of Tontitown began setting out vines in 1898.

Grape production in the county took a huge leap forward in the 1920s. Instrumental in this growth was the establishment of a Welch grape processing plant in Springdale. According to an 1937 Springdale News article, in 1920 Welch officials “. . . promised to care for the grape crops from certain Arkansas and Missouri sections and to take all the fruits from places within a 24-hour shipping radius. . .“

Artifact of the Month Archive

Apron

by | Artifact of the Month, Clothing and Accessories, Military and Homefront

Donated by Naomi Bickford

While in Europe as a soldier during World War I, Nathan Bickford sent his wife, Naomi, this apron. Nathan Bickford served with Company G, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division during the war. He was awarded a sharpshooters badge, a World War I victory medal and a purple heart with oak leaf clusters for injuries suffered in France.

The Bickfords lived in Missouri, Kansas, and Tennessee before coming to Northwest Arkansas in the 1940s, where Nathan Bickford was an attorney in Gravette and Springdale.

Artifact of the Month Archive

Halloween Lamp

by | Artifact of the Month, Holidays

Donated by Lockwood and Annabel Searcy

This ceramic lamp dates to about 1920. We don’t know its history. The only marking is “Germany” on the inside of the lamp base.

Perhaps the lamp was sold by or displayed in Lockwood Searcy’s wholesale grocery store on Emma Avenue in Springdale, or maybe the lamp was a festive decoration in the Searcy house during the Halloween season.

Artifact of the Month Archive

Beaded Pincushion

by | Artifact of the Month, Crafts, Holidays

Donated by Matha Ann (Mrs. Alfred) Lussky and Katherine Lussky Adam

This pincushion belonged to Alma Lussky of Fayetteville. She was the sister of Dr. Alfred Lussky, head of the German Department at the University of Arkansas for many years.The Lusskys were originally from Illinois by way of New York.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s members of the Mohawk, Tuscarora, and Mohegan tribes in upstate New York made pincushions like this and sold them as souvenirs to tourists visiting Niagara Falls and Saratoga.
Artifact of the Month Archive

“Barn Raising” Quilt

by | Artifact of the Month, Textiles

Donated by Matha Ann (Mrs. Alfred) Lussky and Katherine Lussky Adam

This circa 1915 quilt is a Log Cabin variation called “Barn Raising.” It was made by Anna Catherine Beyer Lussky of Buffalo, New York. The quilt came to Northwest Arkansas with Anna’s son, Alfred Edwin, who was a professor and chair of the German department at the University of Arkansas for many years.

To make the quilt, Anna Lussky used pieces of her silk wedding dress along with silk neckties that belonged to her six sons (Alfred, Herbert, Arthur, Walter, Ernest, and George).

Artifact of the Month Archive