The Fabric of American Politics: Campaigns, Commemorations, and Everyday Textiles by Marina Moskowitz

The 2024 United States presidential election is encapsulated by two hats. One is red and has a familiar campaign slogan on it; the other is printed with a natural camouflage pattern often worn by hunters, with the names of one political party’s candidates on it. Both hats are made of plain-woven cotton with the text embroidered onto it and are lauded for being made in the US. At least one of these hats is advertised as “the most iconic political hat in America.” Textiles–whether clothing the body, furnishing the home, or adorning public spaces—have long provided a means of political messaging. Our almost constant encounter with this form of material culture in everyday life makes them particularly effective in conveying a broad range of meanings. These political emblems derive from not only the slogans and symbols the textiles broadcast but also their materials and making techniques. This talk will offer a historical overview of how Americans have harnessed textiles—handkerchiefs, bandannas, quilts, curtains, clothing, and more—to express their civic allegiances in both overt and subtle ways, and at both local and national scales. Marina Moskowitz is currently a Brown 2026 Visiting Senior Fellow at Brown. She came from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she is a Lynn and Gary Mecklenburg Chair in Textiles, Material Culture and Design. She is also a Faculty Director for the Study of Textiles at the Center for Design and Material Culture there.