Mary Shell

Mary Shell

Artisans

Basket making

Cherokee women

Handicraft

Textile fabrics

Weaving -- Appalachian Region, Southern

Mary Shell (b. 1913), a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, was born and raised on the Qualla Boundary in North Carolina. A renowned sash weaver, Shell looked for a craft that she enjoyed doing. In 1956 she got a job at the Oconaluftee Indian Village where she learned sash weaving. She continued to demonstrate this craft at the Village for several decades. Sashes were an important part of the dress for both Cherokee men and women during the early 1800s. Shell was honored with an exhibition at Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual in 1972. This photograph was made on June 7, 1977 on the occasion of the ground breaking of the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, NC. Attending the event was Joan Mondale, wife of Vice President Mondale. Mondale was accompanied by the wife of the U.S. Senator from North Carolina, Robert B. Morgan, and Lana Gudger, wife of Vonno Lamar Gudger, a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina's 11th District. This photograph was likely taken by David Gaynes.

Gaynes, David

Photographic Media

Hunter Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723

1977-06-07

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

jpg

photographs

StillImage

16505

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/16505

2010-09-14

All rights reserved. For permissions and use, contact Southern Highland Craft Guild Archives, Asheville, NC 28815;

Buncombe County (N.C.)

Appalachian Region, Southern

4" x 5"(dimension)

Craft Revival