Frankie Welch and Betty Ford shared a friendship and a love of fashion. In 1963, Welch, who was from Georgia, opened a dress shop in Alexandria, Virginia, that became a social and shopping mecca among Washington’s political elite. When she debuted her first scarf design, the Cherokee Alphabet, Ford was one of her models. When Ford needed to select an outfit for her husband’s swearing-in, Welch was there to assist. This lecture will introduce Frankie Welch and highlight her connections with Betty Ford. It will be based on the recent publication from the University of Georgia Press, Frankie Welch’s Americana: Fashion, Scarves, and Politics.
Watch the Program Here
When
April 6, 2023
Program Supporters
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum
About Ashley Callahan
Ashley Callahan is an independent scholar and curator in Athens, Georgia, specializing in modern and contemporary American decorative arts and crafts. In 2022, the University of Georgia (UGA) Press published her book Frankie Welch’s Americana: Fashion, Scarves, and Politics, and the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at UGA presented her exhibition of the same title. Her other books include Crafting History: Textiles, Metals, and Ceramics at the University of Georgia (co-author, Georgia Museum of Art, 2018) and Southern Tufts: The Regional Origins and National Craze for Chenille Fashion (UGA Press, 2015). She is a contributor to Ornament Magazine and has written for the magazine Antiques, Metalsmith, and the Journal of Modern Craft. She served as the Curator of Decorative Arts at the Georgia Museum of Art from 2000-2008. Callahan received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Sewanee and her M.A., with honors, in the history of American Decorative Arts from the Smithsonian Institution and Parsons School of Design.
