american-quilt-study-group-142460

Quilt History Snippets for March 2026

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 23:23:34 GMT

Quilt History Snippets for March, 2026…by Kathy Moore

What: Review of Uncoverings 1995, Volume 16 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “Symbiotic Stitches: The Quilts of Maggie McFarland Gillespie and John Gillespie, Jr.”

Author: Marlene O’Bryant-Seabrook

For all our fellow AQSG members, this article is a good example of how a topic can occur to any of us and take on a life of its own to become an interesting and informative piece of research and discovery. Sometimes it opens one’s eyes and develops a narrative you just have to follow to the end of the process. We need more of this for our journal and our Seminar presentations.

The author notes that she reviewed “the literature on Southern African-American matrilineal quilters” in order to discuss “the existence of African males in the textile arts in Africa and during slavery” in order to explain how European gender-role ideology has permeated the African-American male views on quilting and other needle arts.” [p. 175]

What follows is authoritative information on individuals, some of whose names you will recognize, and their experiences that enlighten and enliven her narrative. There is a brief description of the experience of male textile artisans in Africa (where they and their work was valued) and in the United States as slaves where “they were forced on the plantations to submit to the division of labor which existed in Europe. African-American males thus began to view all needle arts as ‘women’s work.’” [p. 181]

Nineteenth century scientist, George Washington Carver, learned needlework, especially crochet and cross stitch, and was so adept he could copy what he’d seen “without being shown” a pattern. [p. 181] Rosey Grier, a large and intimidating figure on the football field for the New York Giants and the Lost Angeles Rams in the 1970s, was photographed and he discussed in the media his work at needlepoint which he is quoted as saying that “he found … relaxing when he took plane trips and handy as a means of striking up conversations with beautiful women.” When told he had “lost your macho” that “Needlepoint is for sissies” he replied that their “opinions didn’t bother me.” [p. 182]

Much of the article focuses on a mother-son team of quilters, Maggie and John Gillispie, Jr., who lived and subsistence farmed in South Carolina. John, Jr. was very attached to his mother and learned many household skills from her including piecing and quilting, much of it without printed patterns and without published pattern names. It’s a story of touching devotion between the two of them and an inspiring story of the restorative therapy provided by their quilting activities over a number of years. Images and direct quotes help enliven the narrative.

It is to be noted that this author, based on her research, disputes the assertion of Maude Southwell Wahlman that quilts made by African-Americans were “designed and stitched with African traditions in mind.” Indeed, O’Bryant-Seabrook supports Roland Freeman’s assertion that there is no need to “construe African-American quilts (as being) based on African concepts.” [p. 190] Furthermore, O’Bryant-Seabrook emphatically states that she did not “believe that Maggie and John Gillispie, Jr. felt any visceral cultural rumblings when they planned, pieced, and quilted a quilt.” [p. 190]

Finally, O’Bryant-Seabrook declares that “The Gillispie story provides an intimate look into an African-American family in which quilting became more of a bonding experience that a necessity.” [p. 195] As presented, the Gillispie story becomes a case study for all of to learn from.

There are many good and informative end notes that validate the research presented in this article. Given the 35+ years since publication of this article, it is one more which could use follow-up research and reporting. Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi and AQSG’s own Laurel Horton were original consultants (and were referenced) for this article and may be good sources for a renewed look at this topic. Hopefully, someone among us will want to pursue this line of inquiry and enlarge upon it.

Quilt History Snippets for February 2026

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 15:58:18 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1995, Volume 16 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “Marketing Quilt Kits in the 1920s and 1930s”

Author: Xenia E. Cord

In this thoroughly researched and documented report Cord credits the role of “commercially produced and media-promoted” kit quilts for, to some degree, “the resurgence of quiltmaking during the Colonial Revival movement of the 1920s and 1930s. In the process these early twentieth century commercially made kits standardized and “redirected the focus of quiltmaking from a community-based folk group process to a professionally created product stressing surface design.” [p. 139]

The improvisational style we see in so many mid- to late nineteenth century quilts was replaced in the early years of the twentieth century by a small group of “designers, manufacturers, and marketers, and were promoted through media and commercial sources as a reaffirmation of women’s domestic and artistic skills.” In her research Cord found a secretive “tangle of corporate interconnections, layered informal associations, widespread duplication of printed material and often obscured sources for the kits themselves.”[p. 139-140] Cord begins her documentation of these changes declaring that the creators and advertisers “created, guided, and molded the scope and direction of…quilt kit buyers with their visual and emotional appeal[s].” [p. 141] In the evolutionary process of their marketing and quilt kit production, “kit purveyors became the arbiters of style, in some instances replacing or suggesting alternatives to the standards of the traditional quiltmaking community.” The “industry created national standards for performance, and national rather than regional pattern names and designs.” [p. 142] How all this was done and by whom is the source considerable documentation and discussion that follows Cords early declarations. There are names of participants in the quilt kit industry and vivid descriptions of marketing practices. Illustrations are included as well as an extensive reference section with very inclusive and informative end notes.

Cord ends her report with a number of questions and suggestions for future research on this topic noting “Considering the position of importance kit quilts assumed in the continuum of quilt history, this review of the marketing methods and sources during the first quilt revival of the twentieth century can only point the way to more extensive research.” [p. 166] It can be hoped that there are students of quilt history who are interested in taking up the charge. Xenia Cord’s article would be a great place to start.

Quilt History Snippets for January 2026

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 19:50:12 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1995, Volume 16 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “The Origin of Mountain Mist® Patterns”

Author: Merikay Waldvogel

This is a trailblazing and jam packed article full of revealing information based on primary sources to which Waldvogel had, in 1995, recently been given access. The letters dating from the late 1920s to very early 1930 between a Tennessee artist and the sales manager of Stearns & Foster Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio (producers of Mountain Mist batting) revealed previously unknown details and answered questions for not only Waldvogel, but many others who had been looking for information on why and who designed and produced the “wrapper patterns” enclosing Mountain Mist batting.

Reading this article was a bit like reading a Nancy Drew mystery, and great fun it was. One wonders if she felt the same way at the time.

Waldvogel notes that “Collectors have long prized the wrappers as well as the other printed matter, which, until now, have been the only sources of information about the company.” And the discovery of the correspondence “provides a detailed record of the company’s plan to promote quiltmaking (and the sales of its cotton batting) through the distribution of high-quality quilt patterns. [p. 95] Later in the article, Waldvogel notes that the sales manager even directed the artist to make her illustrations display the designs in solid-colors rather than prints. [p. 125-126]

The manager was Frederick J. Hooker, Sales Manager of the Putnam-Hooker Batting Department of Stearns & Foster Co. The artist was Margaret Hays of Chattanooga, Tennessee. “They shipped watercolor sketches and finished pattern layouts back and forth between Ohio and Tennessee for eight months from July 1929 through February 1930.” [p. 96] Hays’ niece, Evelyn Hays Banner, “inherited the materials and contacted Waldvogel thinking they might be important to quilt research.” [p. 96] And this is the key to why it was so important. There were no known extant records about this business relationship between Hooker and Hays. The company’s current staff believed “such records were discarded when a series of new owners took over the company in the mid-twentieth century.” [p. 96]

Waldvogel describes in interesting detail how she validated the information she found in the correspondence. She provides images of letters and designs. Importantly, she states, “The company’s efforts impacted the quilt revival of the 1930s.” And, that the “new information suggests that the changes in style, color, and construction associated with Depression Era quilts did not happen by chance.” [p. 98] It can all be credited to the marketing practices at Mountain Mist!

Waldvogel traces the history of the company from its founding in 1846 when they began experimenting with ways to make a batting that “would not tear or stretch.” [p. 98] Packaging was but one of the ways the company’s employees experimented and innovated and promoted their products and packaging. And there were many product names used over the years. Also, there were multiple designer names used in the promotion of Mountain Mist designs over the years. Hay’s name apparently was not one of them!

There is so much good and interesting information in this article that I cannot recommend it enough to all of you. The End Notes are extensive. There are several appendices with trademark names and dates, quilt pattern names and dates, as well as company publication names and dates. If you are looking for information on Depression Era quilt patterns/designs and dates, or information on the Mountain Mist patterns this is the source for you.

Best wishes for the new year. We’ll review another article next month.

You can contact me at kmoore81@austin.rr.com for more information and comments.

Quilt History Snippets for December 2025

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 17:09:18 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1995, Volume 16 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “Marion Cheever Whiteside Newton: Designer of Story Book Quilts, 1940-1965”

Author: Naida Treadway Patterson

Born in 1902 into a wealthy, well-educated East coast family, Marion Cheever Whiteside Newton was educated in East coast schools and abroad. She studied art and was a successful watercolorist and muralist before becoming a successful designer of more than fifty applique quilt designs. Between 1940 and 1965 she “established and operated a cottage industry which produced quilt kits and ready-made quilts…through such magazines as Ladies’ Home Journal and Good Housekeeping.” [p. 67]

Author Patterson’s extensive research and documentation of Whiteside Newton’s career covers a lot of material and highlights in detail many of Whiteside Newton’s design successes from paintings to quilt making. Her designs were in demand by celebrities from the movies as well as politicians as highly placed as the White House (notably, the Eisenhower era). [p. 74, 76] Patterson notes that Whiteside Newton’s “fascination with people in the process of daily life was reflected in her art, setting the stage for her future work.” [p. 71] She became particularly known for her Story Book Quilts which she copyrighted in 1941 and which were broadly inclusive of bible stories as well as popular literature like Little Women, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Rabbit, and others. [p. 73-77] Patterson notes that Whiteside Newton produced over three thousand Story Book quilts [p. 86] though most of these were likely made by a crew of skilled needleworkers, some of whom worked for her for many years. [p. 76]

Patterson discusses and describes Whiteside Newton’s design methods and the organization of her research and development materials for each project. It is clear that Whiteside Newton was meticulous in her approach to each project, spending untold hours doing deeply-involved research to ensure her representations were as authentic as possible.

Patterson also suggests several aspects to Whiteside Newton’s work that could do with further research. Having just returned from the 2025 AQSG Seminar in Portland, Maine, I can say that one of the study centers focused on the work of Marion Cheever Whiteside Newton’s work. Those present for the study center may have learned more about this interesting designer and producer’s work. Maybe some of them will speak up and enlighten us in a future Snippet’s column. Please feel free to contact me about what you learned. I’ll be glad to share your thoughts with readers.

There are extensive Endnotes, and there are three appendices with lists of dates and publications in which patterns were featured or published, a list of photographs of completed story book quilts, and a list of additional pattern sketches.

Quilt History Snippets for November 2025

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 22:36:04 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1995, Volume 16 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “Ruth Finley and the Colonial Revival Era”

Author: Ricky Clark

Clark’s abstract for this paper notes that Ruth Finley was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1884 and raised in Ohio’s Western Reserve. This region was originally a part of Connecticut’s 1662 charter that granted it land stretching west to the Pacific Ocean. After the Revolutionary War such land grant claims by Connecticut and other states were ceded to the U.S. federal government but Connecticut reserved a 120-mile strip of land in Ohio along Lake Erie as compensation. It was settled by New Englanders beginning in 1796 and the Reserve was incorporated into the state of Ohio upon statehood in 1803. [from Google search “Ohio’s western reserve” 10-25-25]

It is Clark’s thought that having been raised in the Western Reserve by a large family of New Englanders, many of whom remained in New England, but exchanged visits frequently over the years, gave Ruth Finley a unique perspective on the Colonial Revival movement. Clark believes Finley’s early experiences and background and family influences “shaped the pattern and depth of scholarship that resulted in her classic book, Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them, first published in 1929…” [p. 33]

Finley’s college career was short, only three semesters. In 1910 Finley became an investigative reporter for the Cleveland Press and made a name for herself investigating working conditions for Cleveland’s working class women. Into adulthood Finley followed the inclinations of her parents who had involved her in their own activities in national politics at an early age. She remained actively involved in Republican politics all her life, even editing the Women’s National Republican Club magazine, “the first national political review directed to women.” [p. 36]

Finley also married Emmet Finley in 1910. He was also a reporter at the Press. Interestingly, both Ruth and Emmet participated in some paranormal work with Ruth being the receiver of messages from the beyond and Emmet being her transcriber/note taker. This is something they kept to themselves until she revealed it in her autobiography begun in 1951. [p. 37]

Ricky Clark describes in great detail the professional and personal lives of Ruth and Emmet. She goes into particular detail about Ruth’s research and information-collecting practices as she began to delve into the Colonial Revival movement and quiltmaking. She had a strong preference for early quilt block patterns. She and a couple of family members and friends would take day trips “through the countryside looking at quilts airing on clotheslines, and buying some.” She also interviewed the women from whom she bought, probing for more information about quilt block names and stories about quiltmaking from earlier days. [p. 39]

Clark details the development of the Colonial Revival movement noting that “The term ‘colonial,’ never historically accurate, could be seen as a code word for anti- or non-Victorian, anti- or non-modern…also profoundly anti-urban.” [p. 41] There is discussion of Finley’s interest in architectural styles of the region. And there are extensive descriptions of Finley’s deep interest in collecting “personal stories of the history and traditions associated with quilts, especially “sentimental stories.” [p. 45-48]

Clark describes the family’s collection of letters, diaries, and artifacts from their earliest days in New England. These are the primary sources Finley was able to plumb for her scholarly research on Ruth Finley and there was much for her to plumb! The family was deeply interested in the lives of their ancestors, and they kept a lot of primary documents and artifacts. [p. 48-50] There is even reference to the fact that Ruth Finley owned Elizabeth Keckley’s Lincoln Quilt. It is a revealing story from which we get the cringe-worthy tale that well after Finley died, her grand-niece and -nephew took that quilt to their classroom show-and-tell. [p. 50]

There is so much more interesting information in this well-researched and -written article. Clark’s scholarship is commendable. I recommend it to you all. And don’t fail to check out the Endnotes section. There are no less than 82 citations!

Best wishes as we begin the holiday season. Talk to you again in December.

Quilt History Snippets for October 2025

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 17:23:54 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1995, Volume 16 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “Origins and Traditions of Marseilles Needlework”

Author: Kathryn W. Berenson

Berenson consulted “commercial records, eighteenth-century paintings, inventories, textile artifacts, and written documents” to compile the research that resulted in this comprehensive overview of the history of Marseilles needlework. [p 7] It is a history that goes farther back into history than I imagined and includes influences from a wider range of cultures than I expected.

Berenson places the earliest examples of Marseilles needlework in Provence in the Mediterranean at about 600 A.D. And, at the time of the Crusades records “show the presence of domestically produced or imported simple bedcovers stitched in diamond-grid motifs.” Furthermore, “by the end of the seventeenth century Marseilles needlework ateliers produced tens of thousands of domestic items stitched with delicate corded floral forms…” [p. 7] Despite such a rich and well established quilting industry Berenson notes that there is “no repository of information” on this tradition, “no dedicated literature, no museum with scholarly focus.” [pp. 7-8] Thus her reliance, as noted above, on other forms of documentation. Nevertheless, the results of her research are broad and broadly inclusive.

Berenson details seventh century requests from the Pope for payment from “prelates in Marseilles and Arles to pay annual tribute in locally ‘worked cloth,’ not silver, so he could clothe his followers in Rome.” [p. 8] Merchant ships, crusading knights and pilgrims bought these textiles and clothing and dispersed them widely into Western Europe making the production and sale of these textiles a highly valued commodity, so much so that the Grand Council of Venice granted tax-free entrance to ships using “Marseilles-made sail canvas.” [p. 9]

Berenson delves deeply into all of the influences upon the development of this needlework, the ways this needlework influenced events high and low, from kings to needleworkers all through the Mediterranean and Western Europe over hundreds of years. The effect of the shift from using silk to cotton by these needleworkers led to resistance from silk weavers in Lyon and that led to the use of these cottons being banned in France for some decades. The bans were flagrantly defied and eventually rescinded but many average people as well as nobles were affected in their everyday lives by these conflicts of interest. Berenson skillfully and succinctly describes all this.

Most interestingly, she describes her sources and what they tell us. Her descriptions of supporting documents is like peeking behind the curtain of scholarship to watch a dedicated, maybe even obsessed, researcher at work. And it makes for page turning reading. There are several names for this kind of needlework that evolve over time and Berenson makes sure to describe them. Images help illustrate her descriptions. She also describes and discusses the published research of other scholars on this topic/, some of them former or current AQSG members. Finally, this report is richly supported by no fewer the 68 endnotes, some of which broaden the historical details in interesting ways. For example, note number 50 clarifies how the word boutis came to be applied to Marseilles needlework. Something I have wondered about. [p. 31]

Read it all and enjoy. Best wishes for a great time at 2025 Seminar. See you there. If you see me stop me and let’s chat.

Quilt History Snippets September 2025

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 18:30:12 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1994, Volume 15 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “Weaving Cloth and Marketing Nostalgia Clinch Valley Blanket Mills, 1890-1950”

Author: Kathleen Curtis Wilson

While it is not about quilting, this article provides revealing background information on industrialized production of woven coverlets during the first half of the twentieth century. In particular, the use of clever marketing techniques and the influence of those techniques on the buying public. Interestingly enough, there is an unintended parallel, to some degree, to the later development of the fallacious but widespread belief system regarding quilts and the underground railroad which was established by the book Hidden in Plain View (HIPV). It makes for some very interesting reading.

Wilson begins her report noting that the company, the Clinch Valley Blanket Mills, “served as model of clever marketing, crafts revival, and quality workmanship” and that its “story reveals an interesting aspect of the Arts and Crafts Revival in Southern Appalachia.” Notably, the owners, “the Goodwin family capitalized on the demand for colonial style textiles to successfully sell products in distinctly different markets, influencing the public’s attitude toward Appalachian weaving for over sixty years.” [p. 169]

Wilson takes time to explain and describe economic and cultural conditions in the region during the time this company was functioning. It took place in an “extremely remote and rural” area of the American Southern Highlands. Communities were very small, oftentimes with fewer than 2,500 people. Education was minimal and good paying jobs were not commonly available. Hand quilting, spinning, dyeing, and weaving of most domestic textiles including woven coverlets were done at home. As Wilson notes, “Coverlet weaving was an art expression that took considerable time and talent to accomplish and Appalachian women never stopped weaving for their families, as did women in other parts of the country.” [p. 170; Wilson cites her sources of information and research funding with this statement.]

By way of explaining why this weaving activity among Appalachian women was not commonly known and reported upon, Wilson posits that because weaving was not a social activity, editors of popular magazines and journals were not interested in publishing articles about coverlet weaving. [p. 171]

Helpfully, Wilson also discusses the development of the Arts and Crafts movement in Appalachia. She drops names like “social reformers and surveyors…John C. and Edith Dame Campbell and Allen Eaton” who “worked for the Russell Sage Foundation, founded in 1909 and instrumental in supporting the development of an indigenous Arts and Crafts movement in Appalachia” which defined the mountain crafts revival and developed sales markets beyond the local level.” [p. 171] Wilson asserts that it was this activity that “generated interest in and sales of ‘Colonial Reproduction’ coverlets, products which became the foundation of the Clinch Valley Blanket Mills and the communities that supported and relied upon the mills for economic and social support for approximately sixty years.

What follows is a fascinating tale of how the blanket mill became a remarkable success story using textile production expertise as well as perceptive and intuitive marketing prowess within a family which included father and four sons as well as sisters and wives. They did it all in a hands-on, hard-work manner working alongside their neighbors, friends, and employees during an international economic depression and world war. In the process they provided work for people who had very little else to rely upon. They supported their local communities in ways outsiders could not or would not.

There is also note taken of fact that there was significant deception involved in their marketing, or as Wilson says, “…the mill’s marketing distracted the buying public.” [p. 194] Wilson explains and describes how this came about noting, “while marketing colonial-style coverlets was based on nostalgia, much of [what was marketed as hand] weaving had become factory production.” [p. 197]

Where I believe Wilson’s thesis intersects with our more recent HIPV controversy is her statement that, “The Goodwin family members successfully sold their products in distinctly different markets and influenced the attitude many ‘outlanders’ still have toward Virginia mountain weavers. Their innate marketing skill was masterful and, at times, deceptive; but successful marketing, then and now, is based on perception.” So it was with codes in the quilts, a myth we are still trying to debunk.

There are good black and white images to illustrate woven coverlet patterns and a generous endnotes section at the end of this report. I recommend it to everyone even if you have only a glancing interest in woven coverlets.

Best wishes and safe travels. See y’all in Maine at Seminar.

Quilt History Snippets August 2025

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 17:23:06 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1994, Volume 15 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “Kit Quilts in Perspective”

Author: Anne Copeland and Beverly Dunivent

Copeland and Dunivent, from the outset, declare their intent to dispel the “negative images” imposed upon the role of kit quilts in the history of American quiltmaking. Indeed, they declare, “Documented examples illustrate that kit quilts have never lost their appeal to quiltmakers and quilt viewers.” Furthermore, they claim that “kits seem to have played a more instrumental role in the entire quilt revival and the continued interest in quiltmaking than has been previously recognized.” [p. 141] And, they suggest the evidence suggests that kits “have been in existence since the turn of the century.” [p. 142] Their source for this declaration is Quilters Hall of Fame inductee, Cuesta Benberry. Given that information they then note that in the 1920s and 1930s the characteristics of kit quilts that most of us are familiar with became standardized. There follows descriptions of the range of styles, materials, and markings commonly found in manufactured kits. These included stamped fabrics representing the various parts and pieces, die-cut parts and pieces, embroidered kits, and trapunto-style whole-cloth kits. [p. 142-144]

Some commentators are quoted declaring the “uncreative aspects of quilt kits.” [p. 145-147] Among these were contemporary art historians Penny McMorris and Michael Kile, and New York quilt dealers Thomas K. Woodard and Blanche Greenstein. The involvement of Dorothymae and Harold Groves, “prominent” Kansas City, MO, dealers” and publishers of quilt patterns and quilt show organizers, is briefly mentioned. [p. 147] The Groves’s involvement over many years of our contemporary quilt revival deserves more research and reporting. It was significant, particularly in the geographic and culturally broad middle America.

One aspect of the popularity of kit quilts I’d not thought about is that the production of the kits “represented twentieth-century technology during a time in our culture when the assembly line was popular and there was little prejudice against repetitiveness.” Furthermore, some kit quilt patterns were described and published in commercial print materials like the book Great American Quilts and popular magazines. [p. 148]

Designers and sources of quilt patterns and materials are listed and described in detail along with dates, locations, and their company histories. There are names you will recognize and some you may not have known about. Also, there is discussion about how kit quilts served as a training ground for beginner quilters. This would have been a previously unacknowledged, but significant contribution to the continuation of the quilt-making activities among American women across all classes into and through the twentieth century. It seems possible that quilt kits contributed significantly to the democratization of quilt-making in America in an era when nineteenth century practices were fading or being lost to modern women for whom homemaking was no longer the primary focus of their daily lives, especially during and after WWII in mid-century.

This is a thought-provoking and resource rich article that should be on all reference lists for quilt historians. I hope you enjoy reading it and learning as much from it as I did.

Quilt History Snippets July 2025

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 16:52:42 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1994, Volume 15 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “A Literary Patchwork Crazy Quilt: Toni Morrison’s Beloved”

Author: Sunny Falling-rain

This month’s review covers an unusual approach to quilt history combined with a unique approach to literature review. The author, Sunny Falling-rain, according to the results of a quick internet search, is/was a quiltmaker and designer. At the time of its writing, she held a B.A. in English from the University of California at Davis and was serving as Head of Interlibrary Loan at the UC-Davis Carlson Health Sciences Library. She also a decade of experience as a public school teacher.

It is Ms. Falling-rain’s perspective that Morrison “gave the novel the qualities and the power of the quilt to warm and to comfort and to remind us of our roots—to form connections to others and to the past.” [p. 111] Very early in her narrative and looking for the structure of the story, Falling-rain refers to Beloved as “a literary patchwork crazy quilt” and she declares that “Every component of the crazy quilt has a counterpart in the novel.” [p. 112] During the rest of this article the terms “crazy quilts” and “crazy patchwork quilts” are used interchangeably.

The basic story of Beloved comes from real events in which an escaped slave woman gruesomely killed her toddler daughter to prevent her from being taken into slavery in 1855. In the novel, the ghost of the deceased child reveals herself to the books main character, Sethe, and calls herself Beloved. The rest of the story includes Sethe’s other children and other colorful characters with colorful names. Craziness becomes a word used throughout the novel to describe insanity as well as the physical characteristics of a crazy quilt. It gets complicated! The novel’s narrative is described in enough detail to understand the plot and its relationship to both patchwork and crazy quilts.

The various elements of crazy quilts are discussed in their relationship to the novel’s theme including several sources for the use of the term “crazy quilt.” Foundation piecing, color, imagery and embroidery of animals and flowers, the variety of fabrics used, and stitches used are all discussed and described in all their relationships to each other.

Ultimately the author, Falling-rain, finds a conclusion that includes the fragmentation of lives—and remembering and reframing of them—as the same as is the role of the crazy patchwork quilt in the lives of the quiltmakers and the study of quilt history. Ultimately, Falling-rain notes “The novel as quilt enables the author to lay to rest an otherwise unspeakable story about an incident and a period of American history that does not rest well.” [p. 137] Amen to that.

Quilt History Snippets June 2025

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:00:27 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1994, Volume 15 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group , edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “An Album of Baltimore Album Quilt Studies”

Author: Jennifer F. Goldsborough

As a participant in “planning the 1994 exhibition of its Baltimore album quilt collection,” Goldsborough we able to participate in and observe at the ground level the study and process leading up to the Lavish Legacies exhibition. Goldsborough’s paper “delineates the methodology of the study and the contributions of several sorts of historians, conservators and contemporary quilters as well as discussing the most important findings and conclusions.” [p. 73]

Goldsborough spends some time describing Baltimore album quilts, their creative history, and their distinguishing characteristics. The details are specific and a good primer for newcomers to the story of Baltimore quilts. Dr. William Rush Dunton, Jr.’s contribution to the story of the revelation of Baltimore album quilts in the twentieth century is credited and an important point that cannot be dismissed. Likewise, Dena Katzenberg’s catalogue and exhibition of these quilts which traveled across the country between 1980 and 1982 is given its due. [p. 76]

Goldsborough details her personal research process and activities which began when “the Maryland Historical Society committed to a study and exhibition of the Baltimore album quilts in its collection” for the 1994 exhibition season. [p. 77] This is well described and a good guide for all of us as we try to do our own quilt research. Central to her process was the ability to collate information from hundreds of Baltimore quilt images and sort them into groups which she then organized according to relative complexity and sophistication. [p. 77] From this process Goldsborough developed three conclusions which she describes on page 78.

Goldsborough describes the work of previous scholarship in defining specific designers of Baltimore quilt blocks and their specific characteristics. She then begins to detail the questions the team sought to answer or clarify in their pre-exhibition research. It was a bit like peeling the layers of an onion from the nineteenth century and is very informative for us in our own research processes. Her insightful and thorough summary on page 105 is long, detailed, and multidisciplinary in its approach.

Finally, Goldsborough’s observations of the creative process in the designing and making of a Baltimore Album raffle quilt provided her opportunities to compare and contrast her conclusions and assumptions about the making of the original Baltimore Album quilts. She identifies herself as an outside observer and her descriptions of this process are equally interesting and insightful. It is striking that she was “reinforced” in her “belief that it is risky to interpret a quilt’s symbolic and emotional content without a sure record of the maker’s own deepest thoughts and feelings.”

That’s a lesson we all can take to heart as we do our own research and reporting. [p. 108]

This is a valuable source and guide for anyone interested in quilt history and in researching a quilt or a group of quilts. The notes and references section should be a good guide for anyone wanting to do their own research on any quilt(s).

Quilt History Snippets May 2025

Thu, 01 May 2025 19:19:13 GMT

Quilt History Snippets May 2025

What: Review of Uncoverings 1994, Volume 15 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “Mildred Dickerson: A Quilt Pattern Collector of the 1960s and 1970s”

Author: Merikay Waldvogel

In 1992 author Merikay Waldvogel purchased a vast collection of thousands of quilt patterns – “originals, copies, tracings, and photocopies” – all of which was collected and catalogued by Mildred Dickerson, nee Mildred Marie Blackerby, born in 1920 in Bessemer, Alabama. Included in the collection were “complete (or nearly complete) sets of most quilt pattern lines printed in the United States as well as magazine articles, newspaper clippings, catalogs, and books pertaining to quilts published between 1900 and 1990.” From this vast “thirty-year collection” that filled 120 file boxes” Waldvogel was able to gain “insight into the motivations, goals, and methods of quilt pattern collectors of the 1960s and 1970s.” As Waldvogel notes, it was “an era before quilt guilds, exhibits, and publications provided easy access to new patterns.” [pp. 44-45] This is a point that is very important for understanding the lead-up to the quilt revival and the field of quilt history scholarship most of us have been participating in ever since.

Waldvogel names the names of Dickerson’s contemporary collaborators and collectors. She describes the development of a dedicated network of collectors and their interests and motivations. There were many letters between these collectors that included personal information as well as hobby interests and ideas.

One aspect of her findings is included in her discussions of “round robins”. It was similar to chain letter clubs between members who joined and agreed to follow the rules and share “good patterns” they would mail to each other on a specific schedule. In a time when patterns and pattern books were not readily available, this was a way for dedicated quilt pattern collectors to increase their store of inspirational material. Or, as Louise Howey of Lincoln, Nebraska, is quoted as saying, “We were poor. We were just coming out of the Depression. We didn’t buy quilt books in those days. They weren’t available. The round robins were a cheap way of getting patterns.” [p. 55] Side note: I had the privilege of making Louise Howey’s acquaintance when I lived in Lincoln some years ago. She was still a lively and enthusiastic quiltmaker and supporter of quilt scholarship in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I can easily see her participating in this hobby.

The round robins were organized by an individual like Mildred, who collected a list of interested members by placing an advertisement in a magazine. “When she received sufficient names and addresses, she sent a pattern to the second person on the list. That person took out the pattern, made a copy, returned it to the envelope along with a pattern from her own collection, and mailed all to the third person on the list, who repeated the process. When the package returned to person number one (the sponsor), she removed her pattern, added new material, reviewed all the other entries making copies, if necessary, returned them to the envelope, and sent the packet on to person number two.” [p. 55] It sounds very time consuming and laborious, but that aspect speaks to the “market demand” for quilt patterns in those post-war years before the quilt revival and the development of the quilting industry that we now have. It is also important to note, as Claudine Moffatt reported, “in the 1960s copyrights were good for no more than twenty-eight years.” [p. 63] That was a benefit for a small group of enthusiasts who were publishing patterns and related information in their “hobby papers.” [p. 62] The development of quilting magazines and their publishers is well described, and names are dropped.

This report is full of interesting details and information about the quilt pattern collectors and their influence on the quilting revival of the late twentieth century that they helped fuel. And it is a gem and a treasure trove of information. Most notably, as Waldvogel notes, “The women who appear throughout Mildred Dickerson’s letters and files kept the embers of the quilt revival of the 1930s burning.” [p. 69]

I cannot recommend this article enough. Thank you, Merikay for sharing it with us.

Read it and enjoy.

Quilt History Snippets - April 2025

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 16:51:06 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1994, Volume 15 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic: “Aesthetics and Ethnicity: Scotch-Irish Quilts in West Virginia”

Author: Fawn Valentine

While participating in the West Virginia Heritage Quilt Search in 1992 the author noticed a “particular aesthetic or ‘look’” to some of the quilts brought to documentation events and estimated to have been made on or before 1940. The “prominent features” she noticed included 1) “blocks pieced in a repeating pattern but varied by changing figures/ground relationships and, at times, obscured by the use of same-value colors and adjacent print fabrics, 2) lack of contrasting borders, and 3) unified allover quilting pattern, typically the fans design, rows of concentric arcs.” She realized that these quilts embodied “an aesthetic reflecting Scotch-Irish social history—the perennial condition of living on the periphery of mainstream society both geographically and philosophically.” [p. 7]

Valentine provides a representative summary of the history of Scottish, Irish, and British history from about the seventeenth century and the immigration patterns of these groups to specific regions of the United States to help understand how she came to her conclusions. Her discussion includes cultural, religious, political, and ethnic influences on the cultural and aesthetic choices specific to the mix of groups involved. Using the standard material culture methodologies described by E. McClung Flemming and Jules David Prown, there are good descriptions of her analytical methods and charts to bolster her conclusions, although she notes that much of her conclusions are, of necessity, speculative in nature. Valentine notes, “To translate subjective impressions into quantified theory, I worked with both the visual information provided by the color slides of quilts and from the data recorded on documentation forms…”. She created a “set of visual characteristics” to help clarify what she thought she was seeing. [p. 20] Her report is a cogent explanation of her conclusions and how she reached them.

This is a well-researched and thoughtful report, extensively referenced with 46 endnotes. Given that many immigrants helped settle the Appalachian wilderness in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it might be interesting to see an expanded analysis of regional quilt aesthetics that include the work of Appalachian quilters as researched and described by Jeannette Lasansky and, possibly, others.

Quilt History Snippets - March 2025

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 21:18:38 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1993, Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Laurel Horton

Topic: “Prizes from the Plains: Nebraska State Fair Award-Winning Quilts and Quiltmakers”

Author: Mary Jane Furgason and Patricia Cox Crews

You may recognize the name of one of these authors. During her academic career at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Patricia Cox Crews was a faculty member in the department of Textiles, Clothing and Design, was at the center of organizational events developing the International Quilt Study Center and Museum (IQSCM) – now known as the International Quilt Museum, and she served as the first Director of the IQSCM. Her scholarly work stands on the authority of her lifetime of scholarship in textile research and reporting. Additionally, Crews was a co-author of the book, Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers, based on the results of that state’s documentation project conducted from 1987 to 1989.

This article presents the results of extensive analysis of the records of the Nebraska State Fair. Using a scholarly approach to the information they applied a material culture approach to data that was collected from Fair entries and premium offerings. The stated goal was to better understand the cultural impact of quiltmaking on the state. [p.188]

The authors found that their study of the premiums offered at the State Fair “reflected economic and social changes within the state” with the rise and fall of premiums as well as “inequities based on gender.” [p.188] Combined with information from almost three thousand quilts documented by the state documentation project the authors were able to add information on the levels of education, economic status, aesthetic design preferences – even ethnic heritages of Nebraska quiltmakers. [p. 189]

This very thorough report on Nebraska quiltmaking practices and those of the State Fair’s naming of categories and awarding of premiums, while it may not reveal unexpected surprises, validates economic and cultural changes over the decades in other areas of Nebraskan and American history from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For those interested in the growth and development as well and the influences of State Fairs this report and its extensive Endnotes section should be a source of authoritative scholarly information.

If you don’t have a copy of this issue of Uncoverings, you can access it at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/aqsg or on the Quilt Index database at the AQSG collection link.

Quilt History Snippets - January 2025

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 21:32:09 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1993, Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Laurel Horton

Topic: “Surfacing: The Inevitable Rise of the Women of Color Quilters’ Network”

Author: Sandra K. German

In 1993 the author identified a gap in the “thriving” condition of the “growing” American quiltmaking and scholarship industry. She found “attitudes and perceptions of some American quiltmakers who feel that barriers exist between themselves and the mainstream.” And she lauds the Women of Color Quilters’ Network for evolving “to help meet the needs of disenfranchised quilters.” [p. 137]

Some of what German has to say is challenging but serves to prove her points. They are difficult to deny in many cases, but there is room for discussion and clarification. Looking around at guild meetings most of us attend as well as AQSG Seminar meetings, one cannot deny her statement, “there is a large discrepancy between the numbers of European American quilters, guilds, teachers, lecturers, curators, writers, editors, international exchange candidates, fellowship recipients, and so on, and their African American counterparts.” [p. 139-140] What follows is a detailed explication of the ways in which African American’s “visibility” in art and craft in America has been, and is, sidelined. It is a concept she credits Ralph Ellison with bringing to the forefront in the 1950s, in his book, Invisible Man.

German’s discussion of “invisibility” seems a very good opportunity to explore the effects and consequences of racial and sexist social and cultural attitudes across many generations to the present. Given all the many years since the Civil Rights movement in American and the many ways in which we have experienced the consequences of sexism and racism, one would think we would be past the need to think about and discuss this issue.

Sadly, there is more work to do and revisiting this article may just be a good way to start that discussion. Have her issues changed? If yes, how have they changed? What of her points are still relevant? What can we do to resolve these issues? What, if anything, does AQSG need to do about these issues?

Best wishes to you all for the new year. Let’s make 2025 the best it can be. I hope to see you all at Seminar in the fall.

Quilt History Snippets - December 2024

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 21:44:53 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1993, Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Laurel Horton

Topic: “The Smithsonian Quilt Controversy: Cultural Dislocation”

Author: Judy Elsley

This will be a revisit of an old controversy for some and new information for others. It is one of those things that got my attention at the time (the early 1990s) and drew me into the orbit of quilt history scholarship.

Elsley establishes at the outset her goal of “explaining the debate and explicating the significance of the dispute in terms of the cultural and ideological issues it raises.” She will “argue…[that] the controversy speaks to how we perceive quilts, what purpose we think they serve, and what cultural meaning we assign to them.” Her issue is that the reproductions enact a series of “cultural dislocations” or “disturbing shifts in perceptions of quilts from control by those who make them…to control by commercial enterprise.” In other words, from the women who make them and the context in which they are made to the men who control the decisions as well as who, how, and where the quilts are made. As she says, each shift “represents a slippage that undermines the diligent efforts of quilt scholars and enthusiasts to give quilts, and the women’s culture they represent, their rightful place in American society.” [p. 119]

Elsley is careful to describe the “historical and cultural context of the controversy [p. 123]. She names the players beginning with the impact of the “1992 Christmas edition of the Lands’ End Coming Home Catalog” highlighting an American-made quilt, including prices listed. Also noted, follow-up advertising and its carefully worded descriptions of copy-cat quilts imported from China by license with Smithsonian Institution and a company called American Pacific Enterprises, Inc. Something I did not know: “each quilt was originally accompanied by a registration card, and a mock certificate of authenticity.” [p. 121] That suggests to me that the decision-makers at Smithsonian anticipated some controversy over this project.

The estimated sales statistics provided by Elsley are surprising and enlightening. An industry publication, Home Furnishings Daily, estimated that American Pacific would gross $100 million in 1992. That got the attention of the decision-makers at Smithsonian who, no doubt, imagined this a “profitable way to increase their revenues.” [p. 124] But it did not take long for the American quilting community to take notice and begin protesting. You will recognize many of the names given here as well as the arguments for and against this project.

Elsley does an excellent job of providing the context and content of this controversy as well as the players and their positions. She also gives ample attention to issues related to women’s history, textile history, and the relationship between them. As she says, “When quilts are stripped of their context what we lose is their textuality…women’s history and culture are muted and even silenced, obliterated as insignificant.” [p. 127]

There’s more in this worthy and well researched, well written article. I won’t reveal the specifics on how it ends. I want you all to read it and decide for yourselves how the end of the controversy holds up all these years later. Let me hear from you. You can reach me at kmoore81@austin.rr.com

Quilt History Snippets - November 2024

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 21:41:22 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1993, Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Laurel Horton

Topic: “Southwestern Quilts and Quiltmakers in Context”

Author: Jeannette Lasansky

This author, Jeannette Lasansky, has authored numerous books and articles on Pennsylvania's history and material culture, including detailed and authoritative research on Pennsylvania quilt making practices and culture. Several of her books have long been in my personal library and I’ve used her research as a resource in my own work.

In 1985 she was commissioned by the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM to “survey living traditional quiltmakers” particularly rural women living in New Mexico who had learned to quilt from relatives or friends—not from workshops, videos, or manuals.” [p. 97] What resulted was a project much like that which resulted in the 1977 book, The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art, written Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Buferd, which reported in words and photographs the lives and quilt work of Depression era women in Texas and New Mexico. That was a book which led to a stage play and a widely distributed and popular screen play.

Much of Lasansky’s research was done by telephone and initially involved contact with more than 200 women from a number of localities in New Mexico. The project was publicized statewide, through quilt guilds, senior citizen centers, and historical societies. Most of the quilters finally interviewed were “Anglo- and Hispanic-American women.” [p. 97] There were extensive interviews and photographs collected of the quilters and their quilts. All the tape-recorded tapes of interviews are “fully indexed” and “housed in the collection of the Museum of International Folk Art” in Santa Fe, NM. [p. 99]

There are fascinating life stories included in this article and the names of many of the women are given. Details include life lived in a “box house”, construction and use of quilt frames (particularly those suspended from the ceiling which could be lowered and raised when needed), and ratchet-style floor frames. [p. 100-104] Batting, thread, and fabric sources are discussed and described. [p. 104-108] Use and maintenance of quilts by these women in New Mexico is also covered. [p. 109-112] Finally, patterns used by quilters and the common style of construction is discussed. [p. 112-115] The Notes and References section is extensive and enlightening. There is much good information there for all of us.

This is a readable and informative article for those of us who research and write about quilt history and who want to know more about early to late-mid-nineteenth-century quilt making in America.

Quilt History Snippets - October 2024

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 21:39:58 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1993 , Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group , edited by Laurel Horton

Topic: “Innovative Group Quiltmaking in an Isolated Coastal Community in British Columbia, Canada: Out of the Mainstream”

Author: Kristan Miller

Miller has given us an extensive description of the quilting activities and motivations of a group of quilters “living on an island in coastal British Columbia…just southern of the Alaska panhandle” [pp. 62, 64] where travel involved the use of watercraft for the most part and life was rural and hard and the weather dictated how, where, and when they met together. There are detailed and extensive descriptions of individual women and their families and, to some degree, their living conditions. Miller wanted this paper to answer the question, “Why do women make quilts together.” [p. 62]

She describes the women in this group, which seems to have been active beginning sometime in the 1980s, [p. 76] as “strong, vigorous women with big biceps and raggedy fingernails who do not fit stereotyped images of dainty, ladylike needleworkers.” Their “group-made quilts are not usually pre-designed…favoring non-conventional fabrics, three-dimensional embellishment, and free-form sculptural embroidered quilting. [p. 63] Occasionally men would briefly join the group. [p. 67] Some women moved away and from time-to-time blocks were shared by mail with specific individuals. Their ages ranged from about 30 years to 50 years old. [p. 67]

In 1992 they participated in an exhibition attended by Mary Cross (Mary Bywater Cross?) who signed the exhibition guestbook and suggested that a “paper proposal for the American Quilt Study Group” might be appropriate. [p. 86] Miller followed up on the suggestion and the result is this paper which is illustrated with hand drawn pictures and maps and extensive descriptions of methods and manner of construction for their quilts as well as individual reasons for participating in the group and their quiltmaking.

This paper is a well written exposition of not only quiltmaking in an isolated location but of community building among women of disparate education, skills, and abilities. It is unique, and a valuable contribution to the history of mid-twentieth century quilt making in north America. I hope you will all look it up and enjoy the read.

If you do not have a copy of this, or any, edition of Uncoverings, check the publication list on the AQSG website to see if the particular volume is available…many still are. To access an online version of any issue of Uncoverings find the links at the AQSG website or the Quilt Index at www.quiltindex.org . As always, you can contact me at kmoore81@austin.rr.com

Quilt History Snippets - August, 2024

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 16:20:08 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1993, Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group , edited by Laurel Horton

Topic: “Art and Quilts: 1950-1970”

Author: Bets Ramsey

This month we are opening our reviews with volume number 13 and an article by long-time AQSG member Bets Ramsey. Ramsey provides some enlightening information about the early evolution of what we now call art quilts, but she refers to as “non-traditional quilts.” She notes specifically that in these early days the “Arts and Crafts Movement and the Bauhaus philosophy” were driving influences. Throughout the article Ramsey identifies “seven significant artists who are pioneers in creating quilts as art pieces and whose teaching, exhibiting and writing have affected and stimulated a wide audience…”. She further states, “the art quilts of the 1990s has a history which is directly related to the artist quilters of the 1950s and 1960s and to even earlier decades.” [p. 9]

Ramsey’s narrative begins with an exhibition of “modern art” quilts in 1992 in Shreveport, Louisiana that drew members of the public from both the traditional quilting community and the arts community for whom the use of quilts was not a familiar art form. What follows is her explication of how “the way was being prepared” for such a quilt exhibition. Ramsey names prominent players and publications involved in publishing information and observations of this ground-breaking exhibition.

There are dates noted of succeeding exhibitions and individuals who were prominent as the decades progressed, then Ramsey regresses to previous developments leading up to the brightness of the 1970s and beyond when art and quilts became a prominent means of expression among emerging artists. What follows is an enlightening discussion of the Bauhaus movement and the growth of the Arts and Crafts movement, again naming names and dates and describing techniques used by these practitioners and their methods as well as tastemakers responsible for spreading these developments to the public at large. Jean Ray Laury figures prominently in Ramsey’s article along with a number of other names unfamiliar to me.

This is a rich and informative article which broadened my understanding and appreciation of the art quilt movement. Coming from someone who was a contemporary of many of these artist/quiltmakers, and someone with academic training in art and design, lends credibility and authority to her article. It is a foundational read for all of us who struggle to understand where, when, and how the art quilt movement came to be what it is today.

Quilt History Snippets - July 2024

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 16:23:06 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1990, Volume 11 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group

Article: Quilt Patterns and Contests of the Omaha World-Herald , 1921-1941

Author: Jan Stehlik

Quilt History Snippets - June 2024

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 16:28:10 GMT

What: Review of Uncoverings 1992, Volume 13 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group , edited by Laurel Horton

Topic: From Myth to Maturity: The Evolution of Quilt Scholarship

Author: Virginia Gunn

The author of this article, Virginia Gunn, is a former editor of AQSG’s Uncoverings and at the time this article was written she was President of the AQSG Board of Directors. She was also an Associate Professor of clothing, textiles, and interiors in the School of Home Economics and Family Ecology at the University of Akron, Ohio and had well established scholarly expertise along with numerous articles published in multiple volumes of Uncoverings.

In her abstract, Gunn states that “Quilting Myths are realities of quilt history. Romantic myths have been combined with historical facts as people interpreted America’s quilting past.” That they “survive and thrive because they reflect people’s dreams, ideals, and values.” But, she notes, we must be willing to “revise past scholarship in light of new knowledge…without letting them [myths] impede interpretations based on accurate and documented facts.” [p. 192]

The article that follows includes a cogent discussion of various myths in American history, most of them familiar to all of us. She presents a realistic description of how early quilt historians attempted to explain early American quilting practices and sources, often basing their comments on undocumented theories not based on scholarly research of early American history using authoritative primary and secondary documentation. Such early commentaries became embedded in people’s understanding of our history “even though factually false.” [p. 194] Gunn gives names of individuals and publications to establish her thesis in reality. And she provides a thorough discussion of the evolution of quilt history in America. To be fair, these early commentators had little documentation to go on. Some of them and their followers were motivated by romantic notions of an American history with which they had little actual knowledge. We have the advantage of decades of scholarly research and documentation thanks to organizations like AQSG and can more easily separate myth from reality.

Gunn’s cross-discipline approach includes a list of scholarly sources from history, social-cultural historians and material culture specialists, folklorists and oral historians, quilt collectors and commentators from the 1930s forward. Most of you will recognize the names, events, and publications mentioned.

Most relevantly, Gunn notes that “the old myths persist for they contain implied or explicit morals or messages still considered pertinent today.” [p. 201] She intersperses her article with a plea to strive to separate myth from reality, that their [myth] “contributions are most positive when clearly distinguished” and that “Well-documented history is often as fascinating as legend.” [p. 202]

Finally, it is important to remember that Gunn’s article was published in 1992. The book Hidden in Plain View by Jacqueline Tobin documenting family stories from Ozella McDaniel Williams claiming that escaping slaves used quilt patterns to guide them on their escape was published in 1999. It serves as a prime example of all the precautions Gunn has provided us in her 1992 article.

If you do not have a copy of this, or any, edition of Uncoverings, check the publication list on the AQSG website to see if any particular volume is available…many still are. To access an online version of any issue of Uncoverings find the links at the AQSG website or the Quilt Index at www.quiltindex.org . As always, you can contact me at kmoore81@austin.rr.com .