Celebrating 90 — Collecting through the Decades: 2000s

Recent decades found curators gathering objects and stories of previously underrepresented groups. In 2006, the museum acquired 30 quilts made by African American quiltmaker Susana Hunter. After working the fields of her rural Alabama tenant farm and tending to family needs, Hunter sewed quilts from worn clothing and fabric scraps available to her. Improvisation — rather than tradition — guided design. —Jeanine Head Miller, curator of domestic life

The 4-H began as a youth program in 1902, and by 1914 it became an official program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Federal Extension Service and cooperating state-based land-grant colleges. Ruth Goodell joined a 4-H Club near Garrison, Iowa, in 1942 when she was 10 years old. She sewed this uniform during the late 1940s, likely applying the skills she learned through club activities —Debra Reid, Curator of agriculture and the environment

During the early 2000s, curators sought out collections representing entrepreneurial stories. From the 1930s into the 1960s, the Everlast Metal Products Company manufactured aluminum giftware, which became fashionable during the Depression as an alternative to silver. Founded by immigrant brothers-in-law, they also partnered with designers, such as Russel and Mary Wright, who designed this relish tray. —Charles Sable, curator of decorative arts

The Henry Ford opened "Heroes of the Sky" in 2003 to mark the centennial of the Wright brothers' first flight. Several pieces were acquired for the exhibit, but this simple little vacuum flask is a favorite. It's a relatable object that helps us to imagine those early days of open cockpits and seat-of-the-pants navigation--when a pilot had little more than coffee with which to keep warm and alert. —Matt Anderson, curator of transportation