Skip to main content
Smithsonian sunburst Smithsonian 3D Digitization
  • Explore
  • Collections
  • About
    • Analytics Dashboard
    • Educator Tools
    • Internships
    • Open Source Resources
    • How to Use the 3D Viewer
    • Videos
  • Labs
  • Sponsors

Dashiki

Object Details

Description
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.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1970
general subject association
Women's History
Black power—United States
African Americans--Civil rights
African American women
See more items in
Home and Community Life: Costume
Clothing & Accessories
Credit Line
Gift of Fath Davis Ruffins
Data Source
National Museum of American History
ID Number
1984.0826.02
accession number
1984.0826
catalog number
1984.0826.02
Object Name
Dress, 2-Piece
Other Terms
Dress, 2-Piece; Entire Body; Main Dress; Female
Measurements
overall, mounted: 31 1/2 in x 22 in x 13 in; 80.01 cm x 55.88 cm x 33.02 cm
part, dress, flat: 31 in x 33 in; 78.74 cm x 83.82 cm
Record ID
nmah_373625
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a1-8f52-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Object Groups

  • girlhood thumbnail

    Girlhood (it’s complicated)

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
These files consist of 3D scans of historical objects in the collections of the Smithsonian and may be downloaded by you only for non-commercial, educational, and personal uses subject to this disclaimer (https://3d.si.edu/disclaimer) and in accordance with the Terms of Use (https://3d.si.edu/termsofuse).
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer
3D Model
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Voyager GitHub
  • Cook GitHub
  • Digitization Program Office
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use

Link to homepage

Back to Top