“Cabinet of Curiosities” exhibit coming to Goshen College’s Good Library Gallery

Exhibit: A Cabinet of Curiosities 3: Quilts, Clocks, Ceramics and Fraktur
Reception Date and Time: Sunday, March 12, 2 p.m.
Exhibit Dates: March 5 to Nov. 12, 2023
Location: Good Library Gallery, Harold and Wilma Good Library
Cost: Free and open to the public

A new exhibit, “A Cabinet of Curiosities 3: Quilts, Clocks, Ceramics and Fraktur” will open in the Good Library Gallery, located in the Harold and Wilma Good Library on Sunday, March 5 through Sunday, Nov. 12.

The public reception will take place from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, March 12. At 2:30 p.m. during the public reception, Arlin Claassen, a horologist, will comment on the Kroeger “wag-on-the-wall” clock, which was brought to North America by Mennonite immigrants from Ukraine in the 1870s.

The exhibit offers a colorful variety of Mennonite and Amish items recently accessioned for the Mennonite Historical Library collection, and exhibited at Goshen College for the first time.

Of special interest are diamond-in-the-square quilts from Pennsylvania; ceramics by Hutterites/Habaner in Slovakia and by the Mennonite-owned Makkum pottery in Holland; a tall case clock from Belleville, Pennsylvania, and a Kroeger clock from Ukraine.

Quilts from Michiana include an intricate trip-around-the-world (c. 1936) by Caroline Hostetler Yoder from Middlebury and the original sampler quilt (2002) for the “Women of the Bible” devotional programs by Carol Honderich of Elkhart.

“Cabinet of curiosities” was the original name in English for a museum. It was a room (“cabinet”) that contained a family’s miscellaneous collection of special items, including fossils, botanical and zoological specimens, antiquities, mementos, folk and fine art.

The gallery is open whenever the Good Library is open. See library hours.

For questions, or to arrange a group visit, contact Joe A. Springer.

View an illustrated introduction to the exhibit by Ervin Beck in this video: