Kinship and Quilting: An Examination of an African-American Tradition

Abstract

Throughout our history, W.E.B. Du Bois observed that blacks have been characterized by ethnic dualism. is a peculiar sensation; this double-consciousness, this peculiar sensation; this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.(1) In order to understand the historical experience of the multifaceted lives of African-American women, it is necessary to integrate the folk culture into the existing body of knowledge of black women. This work examines the inventiveness of African-American women in the decorative art of quilting. It acknowledges the diverse role of these women in the history of quilting in America. This discussion of kinship and quilting broadens our perspective of African-American history and quilting and gives new meaning to an old tradition. Quilts can be used as resources in reconstructing the experiences of African-American women. They provide a record of their cultural and political past. They are important art forms. Yet, until recently, the historical contributions of African-American women to the craft were virtually dismissed. African-American women, whose voices are largely unknown, have often unconsciously created their own lives and are the voices of authority on their experiences. The voices of black women are stitched within their quilts. Historians, such as Elsa Barkley Brown and Bettina Aptheker have analyzed everyday issues of women's lives. Aptheker believes that women's culture, quilts, poems, stories, and paintings provide a clear interpretation of their actions and beliefs on their terms.(2) Brown raised the question of how to discuss the lives of African-American women whose experiences are peripheral to the center. She used African-American women's quilting as a cultural guide.(3) Artists, such as Alice Walker, who have quilting in their family backgrounds have enlightened us with insights through their novels.(4) In Margaret Walker's novel Jubilee, Innis Brown responding to his wife, Vyry, stated, slaves where was I done everything. Just like you can make candles and soap and feather beds, rag rugs, and quilts, and spin and weave and sew, and cooking was your main job, I learned to do a lot, of things 'sides working in the fields.(5) Later, Vyry's skills as a midwife led her white neighbors in a small Alabama town to defy race traditions and organize a house raising and quilting bee.(6) Other scholars have also researched the quiltmaking traditions of African-American women and raised pertinent questions regarding the validity and worth of their contributions.(7) But Eugene Genovese, Herbert Gutman, and John Blassingame who challenged the notion that slavery decimated slave culture, did not focus on African-American women.(8) Distorted views of African-American made quilts began during slavery. Thereafter, it was difficult to document slave made quilts. The anthropologist, Gladys-Marie Fry, uncovered several myths pertaining to slave made quilts, namely, that they were crudely made; had large uneven stitches; were from an inferior grade of cotton; had a make-do lining; or had cotton seed in the lining.(9) Fry researched the quilting traditions of African-American women and found reliable sources which substantiate the creative abilities and skills of these women. The myths, however, placed African-American women outside mainstream American quilting traditions. They imply that black women and men lacked aesthetic talents and were engaged primarily in field work. It was assumed that slave women merely assisted their mistresses in sewing and quilting. Contrarily, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese contends that slave women did most of the sewing and weaving on the largest plantations.(10) African-Americans are as diverse as any group in American society and, yet, they share elements of a Common cultural heritage. Among the factors that have shaped the cultural traditions of black Americans are the African heritage, the slave experience, and systematic segregation and discrimination. …