An exhibition: One American Family: A Tale of North and South | Intellect Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty
  4. Volume 13, Issue 1
  5. Article
Curatorial Reflections
  • ISSN: 2040-4417
  • E-ISSN: 2040-4425

Abstract

The exhibition was the culmination of a multi-year project that began with a graduate student’s examination of three quilt tops that once belonged to a family that had donated over 500 objects to the University of Rhode Island’s Historic Textile and Costume Collection. This family, which had deep roots in New England, became intertwined through marriage with a family from Charleston, South Carolina. The student, Rachel May, a doctoral candidate in English, became so enamoured of the quilt tops, two related swatch books and the story behind the artefacts that she continued her research for several years, finally publishing a book in 2018 titled . The book is based on documentary research, but imagines the lives of the quiltmaker, her family and the enslaved people she came to own during the antebellum period. To commemorate the publication of the book, the university sponsored an exhibition and several educational events. A graduate-level class ‘Exhibition and storage of historic textiles’ tackled the problem of how to separate the documentary evidence from the book’s fictionalized narrative, and to visualize that evidence using the artefacts in the Historic Textile and Costume Collection.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • URI Alumni Association
  • URI College of Arts & Sciences
  • URI College of Business
  • URI Office of Community, Equity & Diversity
  • URI TMD Department and Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice, Brown University
© 2022 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/csfb_00038_1
2022-06-01
2024-04-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Beckert, Sven. ( 2014), Empire of Cotton: A Global History, New York:: Alfred A. Knopf;.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Clark-Pujara, Christy. ( 2016), Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island, New York:: New York University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Coughtry, Jay. ( 1981), Notorious Triangle: Rhode Island and the African Slave Trade 1700–1807, Philadelphia, PA:: Temple University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Fleming, E. McClung. ( [1974] 1982;),  ‘ Artifact study: A proposed model. ’, in T. J. Schlereth. (ed.), Material Culture Studies in America, Nashville, TN:: The American Association for State and Local History;, pp. 161–73.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Green, Denise Nicole,, Du Puis, Jenny Leigh,, Xepoleas, Lynda May,, Hesselbein, Chris,, Greder, Katherine,, Pietsch, Victoria,, Getman, Rachel R., and Estrada, Jessica Guadalupe. ( 2021;), ‘ Fashion exhibitions as scholarship: Evaluation criteria for critical review. ’, Clothing and Textile Research Journal, 39:10, pp. 71–86.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Hiester, Jan. ( 2002;), ‘ Introduction. ’, in Mosaic Quilts: Paper Template Piecing in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Charleston, SC:: The Charleston Museum and Curious Works Press;, pp. 6–9.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Horton, Laurel. ( 2002;), ‘ An elegant geometry: Tradition, migration, and variation. ’, in Mosaic Quilts: Paper Template Piecing in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Charleston, SC:: The Charleston Museum and Curious Works Press;, pp. 10–21.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. May, Rachel. ( 2018), An American Quilt: Unfolding a Story of Family and Slavery, New York and London:: Pegasus Books;.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. May, Rachel, and Welters, Linda. ( 2017;), ‘ The Cushman quilt tops: A tale of North and South. ’, Uncoverings, 38, pp. 36–67.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Prown, Jules David. ( 1988;), ‘ Mind in matter: An introduction to material culture theory and method. ’, in R. B. St. George. (ed.), Material Life in America, 1600–1860, Boston, MA:: Northeastern University Press;, pp. 17–37.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Purdue OWL ( 2021;), ‘ Creative non-fiction: An overview. ’, Purdue University Online Writing Lab;, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/creative_writing/creative_nonfiction/index.html. Accessed 12 May 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Shaw, Madelyn, and Bassett, Lynne Zacek. ( 2012), Homefront & Battlefield: Quilts and Context in the Civil War, Lowell, MA:: American Textile History Museum;.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Spicer, Gwen. ( 2019), Magnetic Mounting Systems for Museums & Cultural Institutions, Delmar, NY:: Spicer Art Books;.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Vänskä, Annamari, and Clark, Hazel. (eds) ( 2018), Fashion Curating: Critical Practice in the Museum and Beyond, London and New York:: Bloomsbury;.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Welters, Linda,, Kelly, Rebecca, and Jerome, Susan J.. ( 2022;), ‘ An exhibition: One American Family: A Tale of North and South. ’, Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty, 13:1, pp. 69–88, https://doi.org/10.1386/csfb_00038_1
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/csfb_00038_1
Loading
An exhibition: One American Family: A Tale of North and South
Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty 13, 69 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1386/csfb_00038_1
/content/journals/10.1386/csfb_00038_1
/content/journals/10.1386/csfb_00038_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): antebellum period; Charleston; hexagon quilts; Rhode Island; slavery; South Carolina; textile exhibition

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error