Textiles - Overview The 50,000 objects in the textile
collections fall into two main categories: raw fibers, yarns,
and fabrics, and machines, tools, and other textile technology.
Shawls, coverlets, samplers, laces, linens, synthetics, and
other fabrics are part of the first group, along with the 400
quilts in the National Quilt Collection. Some of the Museum's
most popular artifacts, such as the Star-Spangled Banner and the
gowns of the first ladies, have an obvious textile connection.
The machinery and tools include spinning wheels, sewing
machines, thimbles, needlework tools, looms, and an invention
that changed the course of American agriculture and society. A
model of Eli Whitney's cotton gin, made by the inventor in the
early 1800s, shows the workings of a machine that helped make
cotton plantations profitable in the South and encouraged the
spread of slavery.