Basket for Harvesting Cotton, 1870-1930

01

Artifact Overview

Harvesting cotton in the South before and after the Civil War required workers to go into the field and pick the fibers from the plant. Men, women and children spent hours bent over removing the raw cotton and placing it into baskets similar to this oak-splint one. The content of the fully loaded basket was then taken to be weighed and processed.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Cotton basket

Date Made

1870-1930

Place of Creation

Location

at Henry Ford Museum in With Liberty & Justice for All

Object ID

2005.16.66

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Oak (Wood)

Dimensions

Height: 22 in (sags lower on one side)
Diameter: 28 in (constitutes "footprint" of sagging item rather than simple diameter of upper rim. (CMD))

Basket for Harvesting Cotton, 1870-1930