American Quilt Study Group
  • Home
  • Membership
    • Join
    • Members Only
    • Area Reps
    • Library
    • Websites of Interest
  • Donate
    • #GivingTuesday
    • Make a Donation
    • Unrestricted
    • Dime a Day
    • Endowment
    • Lucy Hilty Research
    • Publications
    • Cuesta Benberry
    • Seminar Fellowship
  • Research
    • Submit to Uncoverings
    • Submit to Blanket Statements
      • Blanket Statements Editorial Guidelines
      • Blanket Statements Policies
      • Blanket Statements Tips
    • Mentoring
  • Publications
    • Uncoverings Abstracts & Searchable Database
    • Purchase Uncoverings
  • Seminar
  • Quilt Study
    • Participation Requirements for 2021
    • Application Steps and Timeline For 2021
    • Written Statement Information
    • Criteria for the Selection Committee
    • Form 1
    • Form 2
    • Exhibit Schedule
  • Grants & Fellowship
  • About
    • FAQs
    • By-Laws
    • Policies and Procedures
  • Home
  • Membership
    • Join
    • Members Only
    • Area Reps
    • Library
    • Websites of Interest
  • Donate
    • #GivingTuesday
    • Make a Donation
    • Unrestricted
    • Dime a Day
    • Endowment
    • Lucy Hilty Research
    • Publications
    • Cuesta Benberry
    • Seminar Fellowship
  • Research
    • Submit to Uncoverings
    • Submit to Blanket Statements
      • Blanket Statements Editorial Guidelines
      • Blanket Statements Policies
      • Blanket Statements Tips
    • Mentoring
  • Publications
    • Uncoverings Abstracts & Searchable Database
    • Purchase Uncoverings
  • Seminar
  • Quilt Study
    • Participation Requirements for 2021
    • Application Steps and Timeline For 2021
    • Written Statement Information
    • Criteria for the Selection Committee
    • Form 1
    • Form 2
    • Exhibit Schedule
  • Grants & Fellowship
  • About
    • FAQs
    • By-Laws
    • Policies and Procedures
In All Abstracts, Uncoverings 1988

Uncoverings 1988
The Land of Cotton: Quiltmaking by African-American Women in Three Southern States

By: Bets Ramsey

Interviews with thirty elderly black women from Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia reveal some of the practices associated with the making of quilts from the post-Civil War period to the present. For the most part, in this region the process was learned in the homes of Anglo-Americans and passed down to later generations within the Negro family. The so-called West African influence is not evident. While most quilts were made for everyday use from dress scraps and salvaged material, the production of more elaborate quilts was not uncommon. Those interviewed came from families with income varying from meager to abundant, even affluent, perhaps dispelling another myth.

The conclusion is that quilts made by this sampling of black women and their ancestors showed differences of style, ability, attitude toward workmanship and convention that had as much variety as in any other ethnic, racial or national group.

Previous StoryUncoverings 1987
Yo-Yo or Bed-of-Roses Quilts: Nineteenth Century Origins
Next StoryUncoverings 1988
A Study of “Alamance Plaids” and Their Use in North Carolina Quilts

Related Articles

  • Uncoverings 2018
    Embedding: Putting Hadassah Chapin Ely’s Wholecloth Quilt in Context
  • Uncoverings 2018
    Ohio, the Border State: A Regional Study of Vessel, Vine, and Floral Quilt Borders

Search all Abstracts

Uncoverings

  • All Abstracts
  • Uncoverings 2019
  • Uncoverings 2018
  • Uncoverings 2017
  • Uncoverings 2016
  • Uncoverings 2015
  • Uncoverings 2014
  • Uncoverings 2013
  • Uncoverings 2012
  • Uncoverings 2011
  • Uncoverings 2010
  • Uncoverings 2009
  • Uncoverings 2008
  • Uncoverings 2007
  • Uncoverings 2006
  • Uncoverings 2005
  • Uncoverings 2004
  • Uncoverings 2003
  • Uncoverings 2002
  • Uncoverings 2001
  • Uncoverings 2000
  • Uncoverings 1999
  • Uncoverings 1998
  • Uncoverings 1997
  • Uncoverings 1996
  • Uncoverings 1995
  • Uncoverings 1994
  • Uncoverings 1993
  • Uncoverings 1992
  • Uncoverings 1991
  • Uncoverings 1990
  • Uncoverings 1989
  • Uncoverings 1988
  • Uncoverings 1987
  • Uncoverings 1986
  • Uncoverings 1985
  • Uncoverings 1984
  • Uncoverings 1983
  • Uncoverings 1982
  • Uncoverings 1981
  • Uncoverings 1980

American Quilt Study Group • 1610 L Street • Lincoln, NE 68508-2509 • Phone/Fax: (402) 477-1181
© 2020 American Quilt Study Group
AQSG is a recognized not for profit 501(c)(3) organization. Fed. ID #47-0813103