Dashiki
date: label: Date made
content: 1970
name: label: maker
content: Ruffins, Fath Davis
notes: label: Description
content: This dashiki, a garment with West African origins and associations, was made and worn by Fath Davis Ruffins. Born in 1954 in Washington, DC and raised in the city, Ruffins was educated at Radcliffe (BA) and Harvard for doctoral work and has been a curator the National Museum of American History since 1981. She made the garment herself in 1970 when she was 16. Derived from a Yoruba word, a dashiki is a loose-fitting, colorful tunic that was initially worn chiefly by men in West Africa but adopted in the U.S. by men and women alike, worn with either pants, a skirt, or matching headwrap (headwrap is not pictured here). During the late 1960s dashikis became popular in the United States because of young people who wanted to signal their connection with African cultures, Pan-African and Black Power movements.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: general subject association
content: Women's History
label: general subject association
content: Black power—United States
label: general subject association
content: African Americans--Civil rights
label: general subject association
content: African American women
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Costume
label: See more items in
content: Clothing & Accessories
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Fath Davis Ruffins
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1984.0826.02
label: accession number
content: 1984.0826
label: catalog number
content: 1984.0826.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Dress, 2-Piece
label: Other Terms
content: Dress, 2-Piece; Entire Body; Main Dress; Female
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall, mounted: 31 1/2 in x 22 in x 13 in; 80.01 cm x 55.88 cm x 33.02 cm
label: Measurements
content: part, dress, flat: 31 in x 33 in; 78.74 cm x 83.82 cm