by Quilt Alliance | Apr 19, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 19. On this day in 1897 the first Boston Marathon was run. The distance for the race was 24.5 miles. Fifteen competitors started the race and ten finished. Women were not allowed to enter the Boston race officially until 1972. Lyle Morehouse of Metarie, Louisiana, made this quilt, titled “A Reason for Running,” in 1980. Morehouse appliqued and pieced her old race t-shirts and hand quilted it together. Record notes include “She ran 15 marathons.” Morehouse documented the quilt in 2003 as part of the Louisiana Quilt Documentation Project. 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/first-boston-marathon-held Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Apr 18, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 18. On this day in 1906 the Great San Francisco Earthquake, estimated at nearly an 8.0 on the Richter scale, toppled numerous buildings and killed hundreds of people. This cheerful quilt titled “Bel peyizan lakay” was made by Haitian quiltmaker Denise Estava, whose partially constructed home was destroyed in the massive earthquake in Haiti in 2010. Estava was one of the founders a cooperative called PeaceQuilts set up to raise money for relief assistance through the sale of quilts like this one. You can purchase quilts from this group at their website: www.haitipeacequilts.org. The quilt is part of the Michigan State University Museum collection. 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/the-great-san-francisco-earthquake Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Apr 17, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 17. On this day in 1864 Confederate forces attacked Union troops in the village of Plymouth in eastern North Carolina near the Albemarle Sound. The Rebels took the city after four days of battle, but Union troops would recapture Plymouth later that fall. This was the second largest battle fought in North Carolina during the Civil War. This fragile Lone Star quilt was hand pieced, appliqued and quilted by Mary Rhodes between 1815-1840 in Plymouth, North Carolina. In 1947, Mrs. Alice Hoover Taft of Raleigh, N.C. donated the quilt to the North Carolina Museum of History, who contributed this record to 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/battle-of-plymouth-north-carolina-begins Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Apr 16, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 16. On this day in 1845, Mary Eliza Mahoney was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Mahoney was the first African American registered nurse in the United States. Her interest in nursing started in her teen years and she spent 15 years at the New England Hospital for Women and Children as a cook, janitor, washerwoman and unofficial nurse’s assistant. She was admitted to the hospital’s nursing program at age 33 and was one of four students (out of 42 who started the course) to complete the course. Mahoney was inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame in 1978, fifty years after her death. Martha Rebecca Crider Posey of Franklin Parish, Louisiana hand made this quilt, pattern name unknown, in 1930 for her daughter Major Reber Lillian Posey of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. The quilt traveled with Posey’s daughter to Europe and the Far East. Martha Posey’s great-granddaughter owns the quilt now and documented it during the Louisiana Quilt Documentation Project in 2002. 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://womenshistory.about.com/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/partners/early/e_pioneers_mahoney.html Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Apr 15, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 15. On this day in 1947 Jack “Jackie” Roosevelt Robinson became the first African American player to join Major League Baseball, competing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia to sharecropper parents. In college at the University of California at Los Angeles, he was the first athlete in the school’s history to letter in four varsity sports—baseball, basketball, football and track. Robinson faced and protested against racial discrimination throughout his career. He retired from baseball in 1957 to work in business and continue his work as a civil rights activist. He died in 1972 at age 53. Mildred Beene Lee of Bridgeport, Alabama (born in Marion County, Tennessee) made this Baseball quilt around 1919 for her sons’ room. The quilt is hand and machine pieced in wool and cotton fabric and hand quilted with a thick batting for warmth. The quilt was documented during the Quilts of Tennessee project by the family member who inherited it. 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/jackie-robinson-breaks-color-barrier Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
