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Windmills and Quilts
Ingenuity and Functionality
Windmills and quilts are testaments to the ingenuity, creativity, and hard work of the pioneers who ventured west. The American Wind Power Center in Lubbock, Texas, features a wide variety of working windmills as well as several quilts. Some of these remarkable windmills are very old, and some are new marvels of modern technology. Some are made of wood, and others are made of steel. While some are small, to be used for pumping water from deep underground, others are tall, such a the Vestas Wind Turbine, which stands on a 164-foot tower with wide blades for generating electricity for the museum.
Windmills played an important role in the lives and survival of early Americans. Some were used to grind grain into flour while others, particularly on the Great Plains where water is deep underground, pumped water to the surface. Later, in the early and mid-1900s, people in rural areas used windmills to generate electricity and charge batteries. Modern windmills now provide a significant amount of electrical power in some regions of the country.
Inside the museum over 100 historic windmills, spanning the entire history of of the American water-pumping windmill from the 1860s to the present, are displayed. Carefully restored to their original colors, metal and wood windmills on full towers, grain-grinding windmills, hand pumps and graphical depictions of the history, marketing, and erection of windmills.
During the 1970s through the 1990s, Dr. Vaughn Nelson, Director of the Alternative Energy Institute at West Texas State University in Canyon, Texas, attended many wind power conventions.
He nearly always received a T-shirts that represented some wind turbine company or the event itself. Later, Dr. Nelson had each shirt cut and sewn into a colorful
modern variation of a signature quilt.
Most of the companies represented in this work have long since gone out of business.
Two walls of the large indoor-outdoor patio of the museum are covered with La Gina Fairbetter's panoramic mural, Legacy of the Wind, depicting the history and influence of windmills in the lives of early Americans.
In the simplest pioneer homes, dugouts carved from the sod of the prairie, quilts warmed the inhabitants and helped keep the wind and dust out. Scarcity of materials and time required that many quilts were
patchwork, functional blankets
that were used for many purposes. Windmills pumped water for the people as well as the livestock and crops. Both the windmills and quilts were critical to the survival of those early pioneers.
As towns were built, windmills and quilts were still very important in the everyday lives of the residents. Quilts were still used for warmth, and sometimes for decoration, too. Women living in town had better access to materials and more time for elaborate stitching. Therefore, their quilts frequently were more decorative, cherished and passed to the next generation.
While the American Wind Power Center is a testament to the ingenuity and hard work of the people who settled and built America, it also provides a glimpse at the future of wind power. In addition to the exhibits, guided tours, and covered patio for special events, the Windsmith Museum Store offers a selection of windmills, from small desktop models to 4 to 8-ft yard models, custom art, books, hats, clothing, pins, an educational CD, and more. Visit the museum and store at: The American Wind Power Center
1701 Canyon Lake Drive
Lubbock, Texas 79403
(806) 747-8734
www.windmill.com
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