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Author Ashley Callahan Featured at Annual Book Festival

03/14/16

The story of how chenille bedspreads led to Dalton birthing the carpet industry is fairly well known in Northwest Georgia.

But Ashley Callahan expands on that story and traces the expansion of those bedspreads into fashion in her third book “Southern Tufts: The Regional Origins and National Craze for Chenille Fashion.”

Callahan is the featured author for the annual Dalton State College Book Festival on March 23 at Roberts Library. She will discuss her book at 12:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

“We are delighted to have Ashley Callahan as our featured author this year,” said Melissa Whitesell, interim director of the library. “Ms. Callahan provides a fascinating history of tufted garments. The book traces the expansion of chenille fashion from bedspreads sold along Peacock Alley to robes, dresses, kimonos, and aprons that were sold in department stores around the world.”

Callahan, a native of Dalton, has a bachelor’s from The University of the South and a master’s degree in the history of American decorative arts from the Smithsonian and Parsons. She is an independent scholar and curator in Athens, Ga. with a specialty in modern and contemporary American decorative arts.

Callahan has contributed articles to several professional journals.