Ellen Harding Baker
Personal Information
Born: 1847
Died: 1886
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Unknown
Professional Life
Field of Study: Astronomy
Institution/Corporation: None found
Degrees & Memberships: None found
Awards & Achievements
Awards: None found
Achievements: made a Solar system quilt she used as a teaching aid; took her 7 years to make it; is 89"x106" & is now at the Smithsonian (donated by 2 of her granddaughters) but has not been on display since 2018
made a Solar system quilt she used as a teaching aid
took her 7 years to make
is 89"x106"
now at the Smithsonian but has not been on display since 2018
1867 married Marion Baker, had 7 children
died of TB
qyuikt has a wool top embellished with wool-fabric applique, wool braid & wool & silk embroidery; shows the Sun in the center & 8 planets known at the time with their indicated orbits around the Sun & the asteroid belt all as shown in the astronomy textbooks of the time; also shows the myriad of stars beyond the solar system, the Galilean moons of Jupiter, moons of Earth, Saturn, Neptune & Uranus & Saturn's rings
upper left corner shows a large comet likely C/1874H1 discovered in 1874 by Jerome eugen coggia
A.D. 1876 is embroidered in the lower right corner
1883 the NY Times picked up the story of the quilt's completion from an Iowa newspaper & dismissed it as a "somewhat comical statement"