The Bayeux Tapestry illustrates, in fifty-eight successive scenes, William of Normandy's Conquest of England in 1066. Measuring 231 feet in length, the tapestry is actually an embroidery and is thought to have been made in a Saxon workshop about twenty years after the Conquest which it records. It was commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux to adorn the rapidly expanding cathedral in Bayeux. The Tapestry served this role for centuries, being recorded in a cathedral inventory of 1476. It achieved a new significance when Napoleon, recognizing its propaganda value, brought it to Paris to stimulate support for his own projected invasion of England.

In the 1980s, Judge Edd Wheeler, a federal administrative judge from Tucker, envisioned creating a replica of the Bayeux Tapestry as a teaching tool and a money making venture. He commissioned 29-year-old Margaret ReVille, a recent art school graduate, to create a painted replica. Jill Goodwin sent Wheeler seed and root samples and dyed samples of woolen thread from France for ReVille's use in matching the replica's colors to the original.

Wheeler's replica, the third known in the world and the only one in the Western Hemisphere at that time, made its debut at Emory's Schatten Gallery in July 1987 with additional tour stops including one at West Georgia College in February 1993. After noting that the tapestry had sustained some wear and tear while on exhibit, Wheeler decided to take the tapestry off tour.

In March 1995, Wheeler sent a query to a dozen colleges and universities in Georgia, including West Georgia College, offering the tapestry on extended loan. Wheeler's selection of West Georgia was largely due to having been impressed by Department of Art Chair Bruce Bobick's conscientious handling of the tapestry at the WGC show. The replica was delivered to West Georgia College on October 3, 1995.

A three-day dedication of the replica was held May 4-6, 1998, and included a symposium featuring Sylvette Lemagnen, conservatrice of the Bayeux Tapestry at the Museum of Bayeux; Shirley Ann Brown, Professor of Art History at York University in Toronto and author of The Bayeux Tapestry: A History and Bibliography; Edd Wheeler; and Margaret ReVille. On May 6, the replica was blessed by Pierre Pican, Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux, France.