August 12 – 13, 2007
These restored messages come from the Quilt History List, an online forum where quilt historians, collectors, researchers, appraisers, and enthusiasts discussed antique quilts and related textiles. The archive dates from 1996 through approximately 2016 and is being restored gradually. Sign up in the form at the bottom of the page if you want to know when a new page is added. Original spelling, opinions, formatting, and inactive links may remain unchanged.
Primary topics of this QHL Digest:
- The Klan-Quilt Discussion Continues: Comparisons and Context — Members compare the Klan-robes quilt to other historically loaded artifacts — Confederate memorial groups, Masonic and Gay Pride quilts — and debate where the historical line falls.
- More Personal Family Stories and Witness Accounts — Additional members share direct memories and family history connected to Klan activity in their communities.
- The Swastika’s Pre-Nazi History in American Culture — Further evidence surfaces, including a 1937 college yearbook literally titled “Swastika,” predating the symbol’s association with Nazism.
- Existing Klan-Related and Sanitary Fair Quilts in Museum Collections — Members note other historically loaded quilts — including Klan-related and Civil War-era Sanitary Fair pieces — already documented in institutional collections. (see the article on quilt museums)
- Winding Down with Lighter Notes — The list eases out of the heavy discussion with some banter and a closing family anecdote.
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:53:03 -0400 | From: “Greta VanDenBerg-Nestle” <maquilter@>
Gloria,
I think we can be thankful that the topic of the KKK quilt has been raised and is being discussed because look at how much the conversation is opening all of our eyes to what exists right in our own neighborhoods!
Even if the quilt represents an organization with ‘questionable’ motives it is an amazing tool for education for us all.
I read information on one site indicating a Klan outfit from Orange County, New York and a quilt created by the women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama will be on display in Liverpool England at their International Slavery Museum. The exhibit will be in part of the museum related to ‘positive and negative effects of trade throughout the world. The article mentions that very few of these items are on display outside the US, however, I may be naive but I don’t know of very many KKK outfits on display inside the US. Gee’s Bend quilts, now that’s an entirely different subject. Still, I am trying to visualize a Gee’s Bend quilt and a KKK outfit on display together . . .
Greta VanDenBerg-Nestle
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 09:38:02 -0700 (PDT) | From: ikwlt <ikwlt@>
>I went there last year and when I arrived there was >a lecture about African Heritage and textiles. I >found it very interesting and informative …snip… >But I decided the only question I would ask if I had a >chance was…..”how do you answer your critics”. I >thought this would be the most non conformational >question I might ask. I was not there to attack but >just to see what it was all about. >Holice
when i found a link to the museum, i wrote the contact person (teresa kemp) who is the daughter of ozella williams’ niece (serena wilson) if i recall correctly. here is our correspondence:
i plan to visit atlanta next month and had heard about the museum in the atlanta underground. from the website i just searched, it looks as tho it no longer exists. can you tell me if that’s right, or where it is now? thank you very much, i hope to be able to visit. patti
Hi: That is correct, I closed the museum in March 2007 and I may reopen when I find a suitable handicapped accessible location. the museum was free to come to visit and I want to keep it as low cost as possible.
I have exhibits on the road one is at WVSU in Institute WVA, until October.
Call me if you have questions or need information.
Teresa R. Kemp “Atlanta’s Quilt Lady UGRR Quilt Code Museum & Culture Center Phone (404) 468-7050 E-mail: trkemp@
i wish it were still open, like holice my main point would be to see what it was all about and how it was presented. his excellent question would be the beginning of a hopefully lengthy conversation, just wish i could get to use it. of course my question would be to see “THE quilt” that serena wilson has said is in her possession. of course i doubt that will ever happen because then the whole story would come tumbling apart. patti
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:48:30 -0500 | From: Gaye Ingram
Marilyn Withrow wrote: > Obviously Gaye has little or no knowledge about the Masonic > Order or other orders affiliated with the Masons when she compares them to > the KKK.
Gaye is the daughter of a 32nd-degree Mason, was for one year of her much younger life a Rainbow Girl, and has attended the funerals of six paternal uncles in which the the Masonic rites were employed. Her two children were the recipients from their school of the local Masonic Honesty & Integrity Award and so she has even seen the inner-sanctum of the local order of Masons. She owns her father’s kidskin Masonic apron and has worked into a collage a gold Masonic emblem belonging to her father, one she didn’t fully understand until she read an article in a recent issue of Blanket Statements.
Please see recent post addressing this issue of comparison.
But that is irrelevant at best. At worse, it is an argumentum ad hominem.
The value of the Klan quilt is not as am emblem of some national virtue or vice. It is in its representation of community. It reveals, as I said, values and views of a particular a community at a particular time. It also reveals one way that women commented on their communities in that time. The attitudes toward it of those who have been its keepers also reveal important views.
As Candice and Shari and others have observed, real life is complex and three-dimensional, not linear and one-dimensional.
Moreover, Truth and Good are not comprehended in any single viewpoint. It might be comforting in our own times to regard the Masonic viewpoint as noble and the Gay Rights viewpoint as THE correct one and the KKK viewpoint as totally evil and held only by dastardly individuals. It is tempting. The good historian must be less self-righteous or limited in his vision. He must find many ways to locate and describe the truth that is present in any era. Material objects—the things we keep in cedar chests and pass down from one generation to the next—help us see that in its complexity.
I add this, though it is aside from my original post and not directly related to the value of the KKK quilt: I am sure many Catholics and Jews would see the Order of Freemasons as somewhat less than enlightened and noble. At one time enough Americans questioned Masonic values enough to form a party opposing the organization. And merely from watching television news, I know that many religions groups regard homosexuality as deviant.
Historians need to keep their eyes on history, not personal polemics. The historian who is not open to new meanings in what he discovers is a poor historian. To be blinded by one’s own personal values is a limitation in a historian. Contemporary orthodoxy establishes one thing only: contemporary views and their strengths. It does not establish the moral worth of a behavior or person.
Gaye Ingram
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:04:06 -0500 | From: Gaye Ingram
Greta wrote: > Still, I am trying to > visualize a Gee’s Bend quilt and a KKK outfit on display together . . .
Greta, I’m smiling. I found your post refreshing.
As for the vision you mention, visualize it: they lived side by side. They might complement even one another. What an idea!
Thinking of that KKK “hat” made me remember one similar to it, a tall, perfectly pointed witch’s hat made for me by my mother at Halloween in my second-grade year. She had taken great pains getting it right in those days before all the miracle adhesives. Some time after my children were in college, I was visiting with my mother when she had been cleaning out the attic storage room. Among the things she had saved was that witch’s hat. She pressed it on me. Having a storage area that itself needed clearing out, I demurred politely. She was not to be refused. It went that way, politely and indirectly, for a while. Then she said, “Oh, Gaye, take it. You might NEED it sometime!”
The voice of a woman who had grown up in tight financial times and who was a Victorian sentimentalist. 🙂
gaye
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:54:07 -0500 | From: Mary Waller
Is the KKK quilt currently being discussed on QHL a KKK-themed quilt, or a quilt made from fabric formerly in KKK robes, but with no KKK symbolism or message? If it’s the latter, is it an example of a resourceful quilter recycling materials at hand? And perhaps even putting “bad” fabric to “good” use?
Paraphrasing from Betti VanEpps-Taylor’s chapter, “African Americans”, in A NEW SOUTH DAKOTA HISTORY, Hoover, Miller, et al, 2005, Center for Western Studies, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD: The KKK experienced a national revival post-WWI, using themes of patriotism and nativism. It provided affordable and important recreational opportunities for families, as an alternative to old line fraternal organizations. In South Dakota, the Klan appealed to rising Protestant fears and its publicity and violence was aimed at Catholics, mostly Eastern European, and not so much at African Americans here. “To the
credit of white South Dakotans, many people of good will who had joined the Klan terminated their membership as soon as they realized its true agenda.”
Ms. VanEpps-Taylor includes an account of a cross-burning in Yankton (southeastern corner of SD, on the Missouri River, first territorial capitol) in the 1920. Yankton had both a large Catholic and African-American population at the time. The Great Depression took precedence away from the Klan here, and it was insignificant, if not gone, by the end of the 1930s.
My beloved history professor, Dr. Hoover would have us also consider the role of the popular film, BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) in popular thought. In A NEW SOUTH DAKOTA HISTORY, Dr. Hoover writes of the film, “The work was not just entertainment, either; it sent a message, neither subtle or gentle, which inflamed viewers for years to come and stirred racial hatreds that survive to this day. In one scene of the ground-breaking epic, a young girl is forced to leap to her death when cornered on a cliff by a renegade black man bent on assault. In another, an innocent family of whites huddles in a cabin beset by black troops; the males hold the butts of rifles over the heads of women, to keep them, if need be, from ‘the fate worse than death.’ The besieged whites are rescued, of course, by the white-robed knights of the Ku Klux Klan, galloping through the night to the accompanient of Wagner’s RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES, in the orchestral score designated for use with the silent film.”
Mary Waller “Non-trad from hell” at the University of South Dakota Vermillion, SD, USA
> >
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:54:50 -0500 | From: Gaye Ingram
> Be sure to have some Sweet Tea to wash it all down. > Kay S 20 > Gaye, thank you for the compliment of your reply. I suspect that our respective points of view might be more close than we expect! Probably something to explore over a good meal…..or several! Let’s see…corn bread, with and without sugar, Boston baked beans, something creole, something with curry, —
Dear Kay and Sue and all,
Oh, all good roads lead to food.
I feel the need to share one of the best food experiences I’ve had in a lon g time. My sister and I recently spent a day on the back roads around Breaux Bridge, St. Martinville, and other points in the bayou country of Southwest LA. We went in search of a nursery that sells old garden roses. Having foun d our roses, we antiqued and had a lovely lunch in downtown Breaux Bridge, which, I believe, is the Crawfish Capital of the World.
This was what I ordered and oh my goodness, it was so good I can’t describe it fairly: a slice of Mexican cornbread over which had been draped the best-tasting, creamiest crawfish etoufE9e imaginable—divine. A fresh garde n salad that really was made from vegetables fresh from a local garden, with just a dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Followed by a just-right silky sliver of cold, tart Lemon Icebox Pie and a steaming cup of Community Dark Roast Coffee.20
Plain iced tea with the meal, for me. I would have ordered wine, but my sister was buying and she’s a teetotaler, and I saw no reason to incur her opprobrium on such a nice day. Otherwise, incurring her opprobrium is not a problem. And actually iced tea turned out to be just right.
The Mexican cornbread-etoufE9e and lemon icebox pie idea is a jewel that I intend to use in entertaining. Spicy, but not too spicy. Textures coarse (stoneground cornmeal, plus the bell peppers and onions) and velvety. Hot and cold. Would be just as good as supper on a chilly night in winter, from crawfish frozen in season. I guess you could substitute shrimp, but it just wouldn’t be the same. Easyeasy and food of the gods.
Anyone who desires to have good pure Louisiana coffee can go to the Community Coffee website. Virtuous Louisiana children grow up drinking dark roast Community Coffee. No chicory, though probably naughty South Louisiana children drink chicory-added coffee, also put out by Community.
When that red packages arrives, lean against a kitchen counter to open it. Be prepared. Close your eyes and let the aroma fill your being. Beats yoga and deep breathing-cleansing exercises. In time, when you can manage it, yo u can pull yourself together and drip the coffee. Then, you will have another beatific experience. I have often thought that if a Louisianan were dying prematurely, a friend or kinswoman might hold a freshly opened bag of Community Dark Roast coffee beneath his nose, like smelling salts, and that person would almost certainly recover and live out his allotted days in grateful, peaceful joy.
Which is what I wish for list members, Gaye
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 16:14:01 EDT | From: JLHfw@
Dear Gaye, I agree that Community Coffee is the best and in fact just brought home a freshly gound bag of 1/2 French Roast and 1/2 Hazelnut, our family
favorite mix. Dark roast is the best for my winter tastes. Your dining experience has me green with envy and my mouth watering. Next time I indulge in pie it will be lemon ice box. How could I have forgotten it. Yesterday I had lunch at Swiss Pastry Shop in Fort Worth and ordered chocolate meringe for
dessert. Unbelievable, they were sold out. I had to settle for delicious coconut instead. Lemon next time. Janet in steamy Fort Worth
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:17:37 EDT | From: LAHudlow@
I have to tell you all a funny story. I live near Sharpsburg, MD and a few years back the Klan had a rally there…….but I am not sure they can call it a rally. The bus pulled up and about 15 men got out and not even robed and Oh there were a few skinheads scattered around the town but there was more church folks, police and even SWAT team on house tops then the KKK people…….so I am not sure they can mark this down as a successful Klan rally……chalk one up for the right side.
Just thought you would like to know……
Lori Hudlow
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 21:50:50 -0400 | From: xenia cord <xenia@>
I’ve been sidetracked in a computer crash, but am belatedly getting in on the KKK thread. I don’t want to muddy the waters any, but I can confirm that in Indiana during the 1920s, that organization was cloaked in respectability of sorts, as members were also in positions
of trust on school boards, in local politics, in hospital administrations, in industry, in social service agencies and the like. They were seen as promoting America First, against immigrants
and especially those who owed allegiance to the Pope, and were prohibitionists as well.
I live in Kokomo, site of one of the largest Klan rallies in the state’s history. At a location that is now a YMCA day camp and outdoor experiences area, 35,000 people gathered to see high muckety-
muck D.C. Stevenson arrive by helicopter to address the gathering – and this when the population of the entire county was probably not over 20,000.
Lots of folks hereabouts had white robes in closets, either put away
as having outlived their usefulness, or hidden in shame, or just abandoned and forgotten. My only question about a KKK quilt would be
what identifies it as such – the fabric, the inscription, an illustration? And if the fabric, what “marks” it as having come from
a robe?
Xenia
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:28:05 EDT | From: MargaretFahey@
I have been told of when my father lived in Michigan as a boy. The Klan became active and their target was Catholics. My grandmother, who died the month I was born, was an English teacher and she fired off a series of letters to the local newspaper attacking the premises of the Klan’s beliefs. The family suffered verbal and physical abuse as a result for a time. It all ended when the Klan leader ran off with the pastor’s wife and the church’s kitty.
I was in Allegan MI recently and went searching for evidence of my forebears. The local newspaper had some past issues on microfilm, but had had a fire and not many past issues remained. So I was not able to read about this. I’m not sure if it was in the lansing newspaper or not.
When I was in Spain visiting for 6 months or so one year, we attended an Easter eve parade and some kind of celebration. They carried a replica of Jesus on the cross and were followed by a troop, of what to me, appeared to be KKK. (I was shocked and disturbed. My friends had no idea why I was reacting that way.) About 30 of them. They were throwing candy to the crowds lining the street. I never did find out what that was about. And I wondered if the very hat/hood and robes were somehow connected historically. Are there other groups who wear such “uniforms”. Does anyone know what the men in the parade represent?
Another aspect of this “celebration” was fireworks. They went off immediately over our heads in the village square. Very scary but everyone screamed and seemed to enjoy ducking about to avoid being set on fire. Huh? This bit of fun was preceded by a burning of sculptures of folks indulging in various sins. Quite graphic and gross. Guess it was a purge. The sculptures were huge, much higher than the heads of us. Appeared that local folks had constructed them. I wonder if they gave a prize for the worst sin depiction. I was so pleased to be amid the local customs even though my Catalan language skills lacked learning any meaning of these activities. All this occurred in very small towns
Margaret
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 10:35:24 EDT | From: LinusDonna@
Re the Ku Klux Klan quilt- About 10 years ago, I visited an exhibit of textiles at a museum in Richmond VA. One particularly interesting piece was an alphabet quilt that had items signifying each letter (i.e. an apple for A).
This type of quilt is often made as a learning tool to teach children their letters and corresponding sounds.
You guessed it.
It’s bedtime and mommy says “K is for KKK.” K was a hood.
Bright blessings!
Donna Laing Bucks County PA
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:47:57 EDT | From: RAGLADY@
Possibily from the times of the Spanish Inquisition?…. See the picture and description of Sambenito http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambenito
Gloria raglady@ MargaretFahey@ writes: And I wondered if the very hat/hood and robes were somehow connected historically. Are there other groups who wear such “uniforms”. Does anyone know what the men in the parade represent?
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:42:18 -0700 | From: Linda Laird <clproducts@>
Dear Ladies, There is certainly a serious difference between the KKK and the Masons and Gays. The KKK goes around burning crosses on peoples lawns and shooting and hanging whomever they choose. They kill. And did it until very recently. Go to your library and delve into reconstruction history. There are some great PBS documentaries. Watch American Experience: Reconstruction: The Second Civil War. Read Brotherhoods of Color: Black Railroad Workers and the Struggle for Equality by Eric Arnesen, read the wikipedia article on the KKK, read Carry Me Home : Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution by Diane McWhorter. For a more modern perspective of the still sort of active organization read The Klan by Patsy Sims. Read about Emmitt Till. The murder of the civil rights workers in the 60s.
In the midwest community I just moved from, Hutchinson KS, the KKK was so active in the 20s that there is a photo of a huge band of probably
70 men & women on the stage at Convention Hall with their instruments. Another photo of them marching down Main Street in a parade in full regalia. My mother-in-law remembers going to klan gatherings just out
of Hutchinson with her father during that period. William Allen White
used his newspaper “The Emporia Gazette” heroically to ridicule the group. Again, they were not just a social group, they killed people all over the country, not just in the south.
My husband remembers that in the small town where they lived in the 50s-60s the sheriff stopped all colored people and clearly told them to get out of town before dark. In the past 15 year the Kansas State Fair (Hutchinson) has been leafleted by the KKK which is rumored to still have the largest cell in Kansas.
I remember reading an 1880s news story from Colorado where a negro was taken outside of town and burned alive.
Consider joining the NAACP to get a feel for black issues through their excellent periodical. Go to http://www.naacp.org/splashjena.html for a real eye opener and continue on so that you can join.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has a wonderful set of teaching tools that are free to all schools. Perhaps you will want to work to be sure they are available at your school.
Linda Laird
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:38:38 -0400 | From: “Shari Spires” <skspires@>
Ladies, Just one more contribution to the KKK subject and then I will
happily lay this topic to rest The KKK is very much alive throughout the country and often absorbed into other organizations. For instance, many of the confederate reinactment groups have a KKK core. We have one person in our town, a lawyer named Kirk Lyons who routinely represents KKK members and other white extremists. His sister and her husband, a chiropractor, moved here also a few years ago. We know the chiropractor and his family somewhat as my husband runs a woodcarving group and he is a member. His family belongs to a church with a very closed society. They all home school their children. Next year his daughter is having a coming out debut in this confederate society.
In addition, a few years back we lived in the far west of NC and frequently found in our mail box soft cover books filled with hate for Jews, blacks and Catholics. We could not discover where this stuff was coming from and happened to mention the book once in a restaurant and the waitress told us it came from the Klan. She took it all matter of factly.
This was the area where that abortion clinic bomber Rudolph lived. We soon moved away only to find more of them where we live now in this very liberal, learned and artsy little community. For the most part, they live life
undercover. Once in a while Lyons appears at a town meeting and is usually greeted with jeers and boos which he ignores.
Shari in NC >
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:46:00 -0700 (PDT) | From: Stephen Schreurs <schreurs_ss@>
We were talking earlier in this thread about how emotional it is to discuss these things. Fraught with dread and shame. My point of query had nothing to do with which organizations did good and which did bad. It had to do with concepts of a group CLEARLY representing a minority or politically disadvantaged group and trying to achieve justice through visibility and organization (NAACP, SNAPP)- as opposed to a group, already dominant (such as caucasian race in this country), which formed with the purpose of trying to maintain cultural dominance at the expense of others. It was on that point I raised my question, and had it satisfactorily clarified. (Thanks, Gaye.)
I don’t think anyone I know or talk with has trouble discerning between Masons and KKK. But behavior – the patterns of banding together in clubs or associations are so similar. Anthropology, sociology…humans are socially embedded beings, and they get together. They have meetings, they raise money, they make memorials and awards, they have jobs, they belong to churches. Social networks form. Some choose or discover organizations which ultimately are responsible for deliberate, malicious bigotry. Some choose better organizations. But the getting together, choosing leaders, organizing activities – varies less. That’s why the quilts have been of interest, I think. There were people involved in heinous crimes who ALSO participated in the mundane and ordinary of life – such as making quilts which reflected association. Mary Worrall et al presented the KKK fundraising quilt. One made from robes has presumably surfaced, with questions trailing like uncut threads. Who? Why? Where?
These thoughts also prompted the sardonic remarks about the continuing need to relearn lessons of the past. We all have to do it some, if we are honest. Who said, “life isn’t one thing after an other. It’s the same damn thing, over and over!” Or has that been quoted already?
Good night, ladies. Time to start a week! Susan
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 00:29:21 EDT | From: Edwaquilt@
In walking around the museum which looked more like a gift shop with quilts hanging around the walls, I saw no quilts that I could directly relate to the stories and none I would judge to be quilts of the period we would assume significant. the focal point with chairs in front of it was a sampler quilt with all the blocks described in the story. This was used as a visual to tell the story of each block and its part. The block and story that I chucked (inwardly over) when I heard its explanation was the Sun Bonnet Sue block. The meaning of this block was to warn those fleeing to put on bonnets to look more like regular folk.
Holice
I have to admit tho that the lecture I did hear on African Heritage was good with its emphasis on passing on our various cultures to our children.
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:10:47 -0400 | From: “Candace Perry”
Gaye — thank you — and I am very serious — for giving me a word of the day. If I’ve come across “opprobrium” I can’t recall, and it is a fantastic word. I have to let my 14 year old know. He is the only 14 year old I know who uses the word “peckish.” Candace Perry
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:17:38 -0700 (PDT) | From: Mary Anne R <sewmuch63@>
— Judy Anne <anne_j@> wrote: http://www.womenfolk.com/quilt_pattern_history/swquilt.htm
I seriously considered purchasing a quilt top very similar to the second example (blue-and-white) on the webpage cited. The each segment of the swastika blocks is made up of two flying geese (8 total). I thought I could take them apart and make strips out of the geese. But then I realized I don’t have time to make/finish everything I have now so I didn’t pursue it.
Mary Anne
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:27:49 -0400 | From: “Candace Perry”
Just wanted to comment quickly on this…Don’t equate Confederate organizations that memorialize what their ancestors did with racist stuff. It simply isn’t true, and it’s a vast generalization. Descendants of Confederate soldiers who fought and died for their nation should be able to freely honor these brave men, as any of us honor veterans. It is abhorrent that some idiots have turned the battle flag into an odious symbol. I don’t think that’s what was being said here but I did want to make that distinction. Candace Perry
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:45:18 -0500 | From: “Mary Persyn” <Mary.Persyn@>
Returning to the original question of who might be interested in receiving the KKK quilt in Indiana, I have two suggestions. Already mentioned was the Indiana Historical Society. I don’t know if they collection textiles, but it would be a possibility.
My other suggestion is the Indiana State Museum which does collect textiles. At least they own part of the Pottinger collection of Indiana Amish Quilts.
There are still Klans (Kovens?) in Indiana, and Indiana was a hotbed of the Klan in the 1920s. There is a classic murder case that is studied by first year law students, Stephenson v. State, which involved the kidnapping , rape and murder of a young woman by an official of the KKK in Indiana. I think it took place in 1929. 20
My Mother told me that the Klan burned a cross against the front door of her all girl’s Catholic high school in South Bend, and my Dad had a story about the Klan trying to march against Notre Dame. Taking on a bunch of young strong college students didn’t get them very far, according to my Dad who told the story with some relish.
Mary
whose employer is installing a new email system and who hopes that this message comes through in some legible format.
Mary G. Persyn Associate Dean for Library Services School of Law Valparaiso University 656 S. Greenwich St. Valparaiso, IN 46383 (219) 465-7830 FAX (219) 465-7917 mary.persyn@
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:00:19 EDT | From: RAGLADY@
A very sad and disgusting story. http://www.audiocasefiles.com/cases/detail/case/8730/
One wonders if the vile and bestial nature of the man caused him to seek out the KKK or if belonging to the KKK brought forth that nature. More likely a combination of the two, I would think.
Gloria raglady@ Mary.Persyn@ writes: There is a classic murder case that is studied by first year law students, Stephenson v. State, which involved the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young woman by an official of the KKK in Indiana. I think it took place in 1929.
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:03:33 -0700 (PDT) | From: Donald Beld <donbeld@>
A couple of weeks ago, when I asked for referral advice for an estate appraisal on a new Sanitary Commission soldiers quilt; Sue Reich was kind enough to write in about the book s she and several other authors did documenting the Conn. quilts called QUILTS AND QUILKMAKERS COVERING CONNECTICUT; saying that there were two Sanitary Commission quilts on page 77.
First, let me say that it is a great book–thanks Sue for bringing it to my attention.
However, neither of the two quilts shown are Sanitary Commision SOLDIERS quilts.
Two types of quilts were collected by the Sanitary Commission during the Civil War–those intended to be sent to the troops for their use and that usually measured approximately 48 by 84 inches (not a normal quilt size, as quilters would know); and Sanitary Fair quilts used to raise funds for the war cause–much like our Raffle quilts today.
The two quilts in Sue’ book probably are that type of quilt—both extraordinary quilts in their own right. I know of only two other Sanitary Fair quilts (or duplicates). One is in the St. Louis Historical Society collection and is a Sanitary Fair quilt given to W.T. Sherman and the other is a duplicate made by the same maker of the quilt given to Pres. Lincoln at the Washington, D.C., Sanitary Fair and is in the collection of the DAR museum. The Sanitary Fair quilts were frequently made of silk and/or were more elaborate than the soldiers quilts.
So, the count for soldiers quilts that I know of stands at seven out of the 250,000 to 400,000 quilts donated for the Union soldiers use during the Civil War.
Both the Sanitary Fair and the Sanitary Comm. Soldiers quilts are unique, national treasures that document this important time for quilters and for our nation.
If any of you know of others, please let us know. Best, Don
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:37:36 -0500 | From: “Jan Masenthin” <quiltsrme@>
WOW — what a topic. I was going to simply lurk, as most of my thoughts were well articulated by others, but here I am. Although I endorse the study of history, I do not believe it accomplishes the goal of preventing bad things from being repeated. I live in Topeka, Kansas, a town cursed with the presence of the Phelps family, who picket daily with their gay-bashing and anti-American posters. Their current theme is that 9/11 and the war in Iraq are God’s way of punishing us because He hates America due to our tolerance of gays . They fly the American flag upside down, and picket the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. They send faxes to families of those who died from AIDS or were killed in Iraq, stating their loved ones will burn in hell. One of their picket signs says, “Thank God for 9-11.” So far they haven’t killed anybody, but they certainly have hurt a lot of people. My point is that hatred is, and always will be, alive and well on this planet. Memorializing it, whether on a quilt, a document, or a website, will not make it go away. As for the KKK quilt, I suppose it should reside in a museum, but I would be offended if I ever saw it displayed with other quilts. Jan
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:52:37 -0500 | From: Gaye Ingram
Wm. Faulkner saw in the strange light that bathes the South in August a setting for a novel in which the heat and the dislocation of the month drive people to and beyond their civilized limits.
Reviewing the posts from this past weekend, I thought of that.
I also realized that the KKK quilt discussion elicited interesting, quilt and material history-related contributions from a number of members whose voices are not always heard on qhl. I consider this a good thing.
I myself became more concretely aware of the anti-Catholic activities of the KKK in the Midwest. List postings explained something that has always puzzled me a little–the large and active presence of the KKK in states like Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Obviously the New Immigration fueled that and similar nativist endeavors. I knew about all this theoretically, knew the fabulously popular nativist minister Gerald L.K. Smith had been born in Wisconsin, but the description of KKK family picnics and family recollections of members on this list made my abstract knowledge concrete and more meaningful. It tied things together for me.
A child’s alphabet quilt illustrating the letter “k” with a hooded “k” and Ku Klux Klan was certainly something of which I had been unaware, and that information too deepened my understanding of the commonplace nature of this organization at a certain time. I want to see that quilt, and I suggested to the list member that she research it for a possible article in BLANKET STATEMENTS.
I hope the discussion alerts members to the presence and significance of such quilts. I went back and read the UNCOVERINGS article on the KKK quilt. It and the weekend discussion made me believe there are many more of these quilts remaining. I hope they are located and collected in public repositories.
Another thing that impressed me this morning as I read over the postings was the civilized manner that characterized the disagreements and misunderstandings, how members would step in to clarify or elaborate aspects of others’ entries and would advance the discussion with relevant new information.
And amidst the learning came the laughter. I’m still laughing at Margaret Fahey’s description of her Lenten experience in a Spanish village, where she was struck dumb by what looked to her like 30 Kluxers following the crucifix through the town. Could have been out of Mark Twain. When MF wrote, “And I wondered if the very hat/hood and robes were somehow connected historically. Are there other groups who wear such ‘uniforms?'” Gloria replied, “Possibly the Spanish Inquisition?” And suddenly, I saw Margaret in a Monty Python film. Remember the Spanish Inquisition in MP’s Arthurian “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”?
It IS August—oppressively hot, an ill-defined month (somehow not summer, but not fall either), steamy and filled with the sounds of crickets and locusts and tree frogs. An eerie month. This discussion could have been unpleasant, but it was informative instead. Newer voices mingled with the seasoned voices of folks like Laurel Horton and Mary Cross, two of our most generous scholars. I hope to see some submissions to BLANKET STATEMENTS come out of it.
My word-of-the-day site reminds recipients of Arlo Guthrie’s wonderful “Alice’s Restaurant” (the music) and even shows the church where Alice had her restaurant, now owned by Guthrie. The site describes the song as a “bitter attack” on the Vietnam War. Just listen to it and see if you hear bitterness. I don’t think so. It is, in fact, the lack of bitterness that makes it effective as a “protest” song. It is satire at its best. Once you’ve laughed at something, you’ve lessened its power over you. A good point to remember. Wish you had a film of that procession, Miz Fahey!
I personally am grateful to all who contributed positively to the discussion. I learned from it.
Gaye Ingram
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:07:30 EDT | From: Mitzioakes@
This newest qhl discussion has been most interesting. Not being all that familiar with the KKK, but coming from a family of men in the Masons (all way up in degrees or something) which has always been mysterious to me as I was not ever allowed to go into my Grandfathers den where all the secret things were (!?). But most surprising to me is when I discovered that Vermont had a branch of the KKK – little old Vermont who outlawed slavery before any other state even thought about it, who to this day is the ‘whitest’ state in the Union (tho that is changing dramatically in its cities). The Vermont Historical Society has a large display of KKK materials in its location next to the State House in Montpelier. Well, at least no one yet has tied in the KKK with the UGRR and the Quilt Myth!!! (Have they?) Mitzi from beautiful Vermont where apple picking has started……….
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:36:27 +0000 | From: jocelynm@
Gaye, Dare I say this on the list? But Victorians were obsessive about having children tucked in tightly wit h their arms atop the covers, lest the little darlings engage in any inde cent activities during the night…. There were actually harnesses sold to tie the child’s arms into place abo ve the covers, if the method of tucking the covers in so tightly that the child couldn’t wiggle his or her arms in under the covers. Which may exp lain why quilts were made shorter than they are in these days, when we wa nt quilts that don’t stop at the armpit, but go all the way up to the chi n. 🙂
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:39:02 +0000 | From: jocelynm@
I’ve seen pictures dating to the early 20th century, showing athletes wit h team letters on their sweaters. However, I just checked the only such p icture I have at hand, dated 1899, and none of the athletes are wearing f elt letters. However, they look to be wearing ‘civvies’ rather than team uniforms.
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:42:23 +0000 | From: jocelynm@
> >How does he know they are KKK robes? >Sorry if this is a stupid question. Stephanie, Later Klan robes had the emblem of the KKK embroidered on the chest. They were actually cut and sewn as robes, and weren’t just old sheets tossed on over regular clothing, as they probably were in the ‘early days’.
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:45:28 +0000 | From: jocelynm@
>Barb — ribbon and thread need to be tested and examined because you >have no idea how and where they have been stored.
Amen! I once used some old braid on a costume. It was black in the center with narrow borders of silver. The first time I washed the costume, I pu lled it out of the washer to find that there were only two narrow stripes of silver still attached…and it was covered in little tiny bits of bla ck thread! 🙂 The really irritating part was that then I had to cut the s ilver strips off. If only they’d had the decency to disintegrate, too! 🙂
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:05:39 -0500 | From: Gaye Ingram
Candace wisely warned us, “Don’t equate Confederate organizations that memorialize what their ancestors did with racist stuff. It simply isn’t true, and it’s a vast generalization. Descendants of Confederate soldiers who fought and died for their nation should be able to freely honor these brave men, as any of us honor veterans.”
She was speaking of Shari’s remarks re a non-Klan group that shares most of the views of the Klan and currently if more active than the Klan.
The group of which she spoke is, I believe, The League of the South. And it is not an effort to memorialize veterans of the Civil War or to propagate the positive aspects of Southern culture.
Ironically, The League of the South seems to have had its roots in a Presbyterian congregation located in the black belt region of Alabama, a band of rich farmland that runs through and south of Tuscaloosa. While the League is technically civic, effectively it is religious, using religion as a shield and base for its activities. Clearly it is a response to the loosening of family and religious ties and the consequent dislocations this creates. Its location adds the racial component.
I have watched the group take over previously pacific churches and turn them into cells of this ostensibly secular organization. As a Christian, I’ve always been chary of the mixing of politics and religious doctrine/practice. My view is that if the church does its job well, cultivating humility and charity in its membership and supporting its members as they seek to live a life consistent with Christ’s example, then its members will create a community based in those principles. That strikes me as the life Christ commended. Politics necessarily involves doctrinal compromise, and every religion is based in certain principles that should not be compromised. So I am personally biased about the mix of church with politics.
And the League of the South is rooted in that mix. The local church which my family had attended for thirty years was literally taken over by members of this group. Members of a church 30 miles away joined our little Presbyterian Church. Soon they brought other members. When the election of church officers arose, some of these people became members of the Board of Elders. When a new minister was to be found, they became prominent voices of the search committee. A 26-year-old tyrant became the new minister. Under his leadership, the elders began to change the order of church services, abolished the hymn book and demanded that Psalms alone be used as music, and virtually required parents to home school their children. The home schooling group used League of the South materials in the study of history, civics, and English.
Ex-communications and the threat of ex-communications began. The longtime choir director was ex-communicated for having a “bad attitude.” (Anyone who had to hear our congregation have a go at those psalms would have a bad attitude) Members were called before the elders for doctrinal purity tests. Most of us in that church had been lifelong Presbyterians, and no one had ever known it was possible to ex-communicate anyone. Theoretically, I guess there must have been some procedure that applied to a case in which a member might declare himself a non-believer, but however badly one behaved, he remained a member of the church. Membership was based in faith, not works. But ex-communication became de rigueur. With that, most of the longtime members left the church.
One example of practice will give you a sense of the group. The young people of the little church were, in effect, required to practice “Christian Dating.” This meant no physical contact between girls and boys before engagement, no dating someone simply for company. When a boy became serious about a girl (i.e. Thought he wanted to marry her), he visited with her father and asked his permission. If the father granted that permission, he became the boy’s dating “coach” and mentor (Freud, of Freud, where are you when we need you?!). The father, the girl’s effective “owner,” coaches the prospective son-in-law so that he may replicate good ownership, though “ownership” is not what it is called. If and when the couple are deemed ready for marriage, the boy proposes in front of the entire church. On his knee. At that point, the couple may begin to hold hands. A wedding follows pretty soon thereafter, probably because of the passion brought on by hand-holding. In the wedding program appears a message from the bride and groom, usually something like this: “Thank you for being present to witness our union in holy matrimony and to share the joy of our first kiss. John and Mary.” In the local church, weddings were held in the morning and were followed by punch and cookies. Then the men adjourned for an afternoon of golf or “fellowship.” The women, including the bride, washed the dishes and cleared the church. In the evening, a formal reception was held by the bride’s parents.
The coincidence between membership in League of the South and membership on the Board of Elders was, in time, 100%. The merger of church and political doctrine was seamless. Those families who did not choose to homeschool their children were threatened with ex-communication. Political doctrines, including racial doctrines, intertwine with religious doctrine, the latter being useful mainly, it strikes me, to justify the former.
This organization is different from Sons of the Confederacy and United Daughters of the Confederacy and any of the older groups establish to honor Southerners who acted on conscience and in bravery.
Like other groups of its ilk, this group has the right to exist and operate in the U.S. Its presence is symptomatic of some real problems in our social fabric. It can be studied from many different perspectives. But it uses the affection of a people for their homeland as a cover for its business, which violates nearly everything virtue to which the South has legitimate claim.
A more or less accurate history of the group may be seen at http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid250
Now, to other fields and pastures new, Gaye
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:53:57 +0000 | From: jocelynm@
>as life, there she was wearing a Klan hat (they look very much like dun ce >caps) and holding some Klan gear, making a comic pose. Gaye, It occurs to me that a young woman who did not in any way support the Kla n, who happened across Klan memorabilia (in a barn? At a yard sale? In so meone’s attic?), might find it amusing to have her picture taken as she d isplayed it, perhaps to send as a joke to a friend. She may have thought it so ridiculous, the very idea of HER in a Klan hat, that she never cons idered that someone else might see it and wonder if she were a Klan suppo rter. Not unlike the time I sent to a friend, a greeting card which said, ‘Gues s who’s pregnant!’ (with, on the inside, Now that I’ve got your attention , it HAS been a long time since I heard from you!) But my mother would ha ve been MORTIFIED. <G>
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:04:20 +0000 | From: jocelynm@
>spirit of sunshine being the best disinfectant, the >historical context of a KKK fundraising quilt was >examined, considered, and discussed. I think the crucial difference here is that the vast majority of swastika quilts were made by women who did not in any way support the Nazi party, and who hid the quilt away in shame that they had made something that mi ght be confused with support for them. Whereas a KKK fundraising quilt could only have been made by a KKK suppor ter, with the intention of offering financial gain to the KKK, and out of robes that may have been present at a lynching. From CSI, we all know ho w hard it is to launder all bodily fluids out of fabric, and the potentia l microscopic content of that quilt gives me the shivers. I can certainly see how someone could feel fine about owning a swastika quilt but flinch at owning this KKK quilt.
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:13:10 +0000 | From: jocelynm@
>All we can do is hope to not perpetuate the attitudes. And to understand
>the often subtle distinctions between good and bad Or that good and bad may exist in the same person, that our ancestors who were so kind to their families could be so cruel to others. A few years back, I toured Buchenwald. One of the ‘ruins’ was that of a z oo, located just outside the barbed wire fence encircling the camp. Insid e the fence was a warning track (prisoners who stepped onto this road wou ld be shot) and then, the crematorium. There was NO WAY that a child, com ing to see the bears, could NOT see the crematorium. And yet, these men h ad chosen that location for the zoo. One of the artifacts in the museum w as a picture of the commandant squatting down, an adorable little blond c hild sitting on each knee. I still wonder what he said when one of those children stopped looking at the bears, and pointed, ‘Daddy, what’s that p lace?’ Or what they were like when they grew up…
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:13:31 -0500 | From: “Stephanie Grace Whitson”
Stephanie, Later Klan robes had the emblem of the KKK embroidered on the chest. They were actually cut and sewn as robes, and weren’t just old sheets tossed on over regular clothing, as they probably were in the ‘early days’.
Thanks. I didn’t know that. . . but would it be wise to still question the KKK connection unless the embroidery was still there somewhere on the quilt? Without the KKK “sign” wouldn’t we still be dealing with oral history/folklore about a quilt, but a story that can’t truly be documented?
I’m not trying to be argumentative but trying to learn how you scholars think about these things. I’m new to this loop. Thanks for your patience.
Stephanie
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:21:34 -0500 | From: “Stephanie Grace Whitson”
There is a Sanitary Fair quilt here in the collection of the Nebrasks State Museum. It is from the St. Louis Sanitary Fair and signed by General Grant. Silks The NSHS history says “Miss Nellie Grant Daughter of General U.S. Grant sold this quilt at a Union Sanitary Fair in St. Louis in 1862. General Grant & 18 others signe dthe quilt in ink the fair raised funds to build hospitals during the Civil War.”
I know from reading the donor file that the quilt was “won” by a Nebraska family. That’s how it got here. It is in very poor condition but has been exhibited, though rarely.
Stephanie Whitson Higgins
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:23:56 -0500 | From: “Stephanie Grace Whitson”
Donald. The INternational Quilt Study Center also has a quilt in its collection that I’ve researched a bit and think is probably connected to a Sanitary Fair but it hasn’t been proven. If you go to the IQSC site and search for a “pot holder” quilt it will hopefully come up. If not, let me know and I’ll look deeper. I’m on a killer deadline with a novel but I’ve spent a LOT of time with this particular quilt. Mapped the signatures, etc. . . . You do know of the one published in the Robert Bishop book, right? It is also a potholder quilt and is reminiscent of the one at the IQSC. Both have a shield in the middle, etc. Stephanie Whitson Higgins
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:26:07 -0500 | From: Gaye Ingram
Lynn Gorges noted something on this list that seems important in identifying some otherwise undocumentable KKK garments.
She said “KKK outfits were not just homemade. They were made by companies who made band uniforms, majorette uniforms, etc. I once did conservation on a silk cape of a grand whatever and it had the label in it from a store that made these types of items. I need to find those notes….. It was about 15 years ago when I did the work. I only did it for the historical value. At first I refused to do the work and then was convinced that it was HISTORY that we didn’t need to repeat.”
Lynn, was there anything distinctive about the fabric?
Gaye
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:05:34 -0700 | From: “Alan”
I’ve spent a good deal of time considering <ahem> Pastor Phelps and his band of miscreants. It’s horrifying enough to lose a loved one to some violent act,but the have to endure the all out evil that this group dishes is
intolerable. This is one time I would be all for silencing the man. My only image is of the Christ gazing down, sadly shaking his head at the twisted way Phelps uses his teachings.
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:07:08 -0700 | From: “Alan”
I would believe that to dissertain this, one would more than likely have a very good provenance.
Alan
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:02:28 -0400 | From: “Sharon in NC” <patchworksecrets2@>
I have a college annual from Catawba college here in NC from 1937. The title is “Swastika”. From doing a little research I know it was first published under this name in 1927. Here is the explanation the college gives for the name and the name change. ” Catawba College has published a yearbook every year since 1927. Originally named the “Swastika” after a native american design pattern found in the original tile of the Hedrick Administration Building, the yearbook was renamed “Sayakini” in 1941. What is a “Sayakini?” Sayakini means “friend.” In a very real way this is a book of friends. The bonds of friendship forged in college are among the strongest we will ever know. It is the mission of the Sayakini to document those friendships and to keep these memories alive now and for the future.20
I thought about selling it several times but so enjoy looking through it I can’t bear to part with it yet. A side note the ladies of the athletic association had 4 sports teams, Basketball, Archery, Field Hockey and Soccer. The men only two, football and basketball.
Sharon in NC
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:13:10 -0500 | From: “Stephanie Grace Whitson”
I don’t still have the magazine but in the 1920’s (I think that’s about right) there was a Girl’s Club that used the Swastika as their symbol. The needlework magazine in which I saw this was publishing a pattern for a pillow with the club’s symbol.
In Basque country in France, you will see Swastikas on many many tombstones. Obviously a positive symbol to the Basques.
Last year an antique quilt dealer was “taken to task” very vocally by a customer in the aisles at Quilt Festival in Houston because of a swastika quilt the dealer had on display. For sale.
Stephanie Whitson Higgins www.stephaniewhitson.com
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:18:31 -0500 | From: “Stephanie Grace Whitson”
We have a group of Harley riders here in Nebraska called the Patriot Guard. When this group is going to go to a military funeral to protest, the Guard quietly lines up their Harleys between the protestors and the grieving family and “encourages” them to maintain a respectful distance. If the protestors get too vocal, the Harley owners rev up. . .I haven’t seen it personally but there was an article in our paper about them and I wanted to cheer. I ride a Honda Magna and she only purrs. . . but you gotta love the Patriot Guard for coming up with a creative way to try and protect the families. I believe they are a nationwide group.
Stephanie Whitson Higgins www.stephaniewhitson.com —– Original Message —–
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:23:03 -0400 | From: “Lisa Evans” <kittencat3@>
The Patriot Riders are wonderful, and blessedly non-political. They just want to protect the families, and that’s what it all comes down to. If Phelps and his spawn don’t like it, too bad. More than anything else, they’re *cruel*, and families who have just lost a son or daughter don’t need such nonsense.
Lisa Evans
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:33:27 -0700 (PDT) | From: Kris Driessen <krisdriessen@>
And on the lighter side…
Last thanksgiving, my sister and her daughter were talking about tattoos. They both have small ones and were trying to talk me into getting one, too. My three daughters chimed in that they thought it would be a good idea as they had all gone together and gotten “sisters tattoos” – all three have the initials EKJ (for Erin/Jocelyn/Kelli) on their backs.
However, my sister Kirsten and my sister Kathy didn’t like that idea. I’m not really sure why.
I think they must be afraid of needles.
Kris
