On this day in 1862, Confederate forces evacuate Fort Pillow, Tennessee, leaving a clear path for the Union capture of Memphis. Two years later, the Fort Pillow Massacre was one of the bleakest battles of the Civil War, with nearly 300 surrendered black Union soldiers killed by Confederate forces.
Agnes Mushet of Methuen, Massachusetts, made this Octagon Crazy Quilt pillow cover from cigar silks around 1890. Noted in this Quilt Index record: “husband Frank probably collected the silks when he worked at the Glen Forest Amusement Part on the Merrimack River in Methuen as head of concessions in the late 1890s.” The pillow cover is now owned by the New England Quilt Museum who documented it in The Quilt Index.
View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/confederates-evacuate-fort-pillow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Pillow
Posted by Amy E. Milne
Executive Director, Quilt Alliance
amy.milne@quiltalliance.org