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The Condolence Letter to Lydia Bixby

Sunday, September 11th, 2011

During the Civil War, Lydia Bixby was a poor woman of Irish descent, living in Boston, whose sons were serving in the Union Army. Historical accounts tell us that she received the following (now famous note) from President Abraham Lincoln who fully believed the story relayed to him that she had lost all five sons in the war:

Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department, a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

When Lydia received the note, it is reported that she quickly tore it up and threw it away. We know of its existence only because a copy was kept. Mrs. Bailey first came to the attention of the William Schouler, adjutant general for the state of Massachusetts. He contacted Governor John Andrew. who in turn alerted President Lincoln.

At first, she was lauded as a true Union patriot, praised for her loss. Yet, her fame was short-lived as the tongues of neighbors started to wag and suspicion grew. History has not been kind to her. Apparently, Bailey did have five sons in the military but not all were killed in battle. Two sons were dead by the end of the war; another one may have been a Union Army deserter. Some sources indicate that years after the war three sons were found to be still be among the living. Historians have tried to understand this woman and her motive(s) for telling such a falsehood for the past century and a half.

With no first-hand accounts available rendered by her own hand, historians can only speculate about her circumstances. Except for the note she received, history has little record of her at all. At the time she received the note, she still had a young son at home as well as one daughter (of three) and a grandson and she was supporting all of them. She died as a free patient at a local hospital and is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Boston. Her gravestone has no name, simply the number “423.”

Books and recent movies have immortalized the letter itself. The unknowing continue to believe that Bixby lost all five sons to the war, a total misstatement that is unsubstantiated by fact.

Judith Geisberg opens her very riveting and excellent book, Army at Home, with a discussion of Bixby as an introduction to her discussion of the roles of ordinary women living in an extraordinary time. Today, on the tenth anniversary of 9-11, the story of Lydia Bixby was again evoked in one of the speeches. In the interest of correcting an historical misconception, I mention it here.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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A Book Not to Miss: Love Amid the Turmoil

Friday, August 26th, 2011

He called her “Dollie”; she called him “Peaches.” A book now permanently records the love between William Vermilion and his wife, Mary, who wrote letters to each other during the Civil War. Now in print, thanks to the University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, Iowa, the invaluable volume is the diligent work of editor, Donald C. Elder III, professor of history and chair of the department at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales.

As the book opens, Vermilion is serving in the Union Army in 1862. He is a medical doctor and Captain of the 36th Iowa Infantry, Company F. His wife, Mary, a former school teacher, is staying with his parents who are sympathizers of the Confederate cause, a point of discussion in many of their letters. Like many other couples, apart by circumstances of the war, a recurrent theme is their longing to be reunited.

Descendants of the couple donated all of the saved letters to the University of California San Diego (UCSD) where Donald C. Elder III received his doctorate degree. Most of the letters in this volume are excerpts, the editor explains, in order to create a book of reasonable length. With access to a wealth of raw material by way of primary source documents (the letters), their transcription enables readers to be transported to another time and place and to experience the realities of the War in a real and viable manner.

First hand accounts such as diaries and letters provide a “window” to historic times, as no other source of information can offer. Love Amid the Turmoil is touted as “the most complete collection of letters exchanged between a husband and a wife during the Civil War.” If anyone were to have any doubt as to the meaningful value of this trail of letters, one only has to read the following words written by “Dollie” herself:

Tuesday Night, Sep. 8th, 1863
My Dearest Love,
. . . .I have been reading your letter again darling. . . . And you tell me sometimes to burn your letters. Why pet, you don’t know how your Dollie loves your letters. . . . When you come home to stay love, you shall have the letters –maybe– if you want them, but till you come I wouldn’t burn one of them pet for 10 times with their weight in gold.” (218)

If you love true stories about the Civil War that are compelling and reveal what individuals were thinking and saying at the time, you will want to read this book!

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Thoughts on a Rainy Day

Monday, August 15th, 2011

On this rainy New England day, my thoughts turn to the time of the Civil War and all of sufferings the Union soldiers endured. Mucking through swamps and rivers, they often slept unprotected on the ground, subject to ants, scorpions and other creatures crawling up their pants legs. While on the march, food often consisted of hard tack and coffee. They marched for interminably long distances that would wear out anyone’s shoes quickly, and fell victim to diseases in a “foreign” environment. The not-so-lucky were taken prisoner and kept in over-crowded conditions and given so little food, many of them looked like walking skeletons IF they survived at all. The minié ball, a type of bullet that shattered bones as it passed through flesh was the invention of a maniac. For years later, survivors of such wounds would pick chards of bone out of their flesh as pieces made their way, finally, to the skin’s surface. We cannot imagine the loneliness for home, wife and children or a war that seemed to never end.

For civilians in the South, we can only imagine the terror of citizens when the slash, burn and destroy tactic went into play, particularly during General Sherman’s “March to the Sea.” Animals, a source of food and transport, were either stolen or wasted so that the Rebels could not have the benefit of them. Cotton was burned as were houses, barns and anything else in the way of the Army. Anything of value that could be confiscated was taken as the spoils of war.

Even those lucky enough to “come home” at war’s end suffered long term health effects from malaria, malnutrition and abuse of their bodies for such a long time. Then, as always, money talks! Those of higher classes who could afford to pay a fee were excused from serving their country.

Food and textiles were the primary needed components to keep the war going and both were in short supply. We cannot imagine the hardships.

Yet, when we look at the 20th century and the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War (in 1961), not much was made of it at that time. Why? The country was too preoccupied with civil unrest and the Civil Rights movement. You see, the slaves were given their “freedom” and little else.

Black people were considered to be inferior in Lincoln’s time, and by Lincoln himself, and that was still the case one century later when they were made to sit at the back of the bus and use separate drinking fountains. Seems as though our thinking about Freedom has come a long way in the last fifty years and for that, we should be thankful. I surmise that today, the people of color who are targeted for discrimination are from “somewhere else” and therefore, fair game. Until there is kindness toward our fellow human beings and we can embrace all differences among people and reach a level of acceptance, in spite of an individual’s color or national origin, we will never truly be free ourselves. We will certainly never be free from the enslavement of our own prejudice and narrow way of thinking. In many ways, the Civil War continues.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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A Little Ration of Rum

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

This little essay is an historical view on the subject of drinking alcohol. This week, my dear husband revealed that there were more deaths from tainted water during the Civil War than the Revolutionary War. Why? During the earlier war, the soldiers were given a ration of rum that was added directly to their drinking water in canteens. The rum sterilized the water, killing any harmful contaminants before they could cause disease! Moderation seems to be the key to keep the use of alcohol beneficial.

NH foliage photo -by Jim Cummings
“Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink” was a little saying I learned as a child and repeated, over and over again, to my parents as we rode along in the car, much to their chagrin. Oh, my!

To drink or not to drink has been the subject of many a saying, many a law, many a jest, and many a song! During the 19th century, troubadours who supported the Temperance movement went about the countryside singing songs that decry the dangers of drinking alcoholic beverages. The lyrics of an English folksong are about child battering by a drunken father and eventually buying him a brewery. We have all known people who could not “hold their liquor.” We have all been aware of individuals who would sell their soul for another drink, who have plunged their families into despair and poverty because of their habit of imbibing, and whose lives have been overtaken because are addicted.

The dangers of drinking are well-known, yet constantly promoted in society. On television and in movies, drinking is romanticized. The elite are depicted as spending their time pouring cocktails and sipping on martinis. Televised sports events always seem to have many commercials for beer, as if drinking beer makes one “a real man.” Drinking, as a social event, is far removed from that glass of red wine some doctors recommend daily. (Of course, physicians don’t warn you that taking an aspirin a day or drinking even one glass of wine per day can cause a build-up of uric acid and arthritis of the joints called gout, a painful condition that involves swelling of toes, wrists, etc.).

The effects of out-of-control drinking (by “loved ones”) have been so disagreeable, many folks today like to avoid drinking alcohol altogether. Considering potential ill-effects of drinking, refraining is probably an ideal choice, and also a good idea for the preservation of the contents of one’s wallet. However, in another age, far from us time-wise, a little ration of rum stood between health and disease even though those of the time period had no sophisticated knowledge of the solid medical reasons for its use. As always History has lessons to teach us that are only learned in the long term, and, as always, there are two sides to any given issue.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

Water is often contaminated and can cause various diseases, sometimes with fatal results. Even that “clear mountain stream” may contain Giardia or other microorganisms that can cause severe GI symptoms. When I lived in Spain, I mostly drank wine, Coca-cola (with lemon), or milk. It is a wonder I did not become dehydrated or toothless. Pure water remains the best substance anyone could drink.

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Queen of Obscure Facts about the Civil War

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Don’t ask me to tell you about the sequence of Civil War battles, the different names that the North and the South assigned to the same battles, or military strategies. I’d be completely lost. A phobia of memorizing that kind of information prevented me from ever thinking about being a history major in college days. I come to history through the back door – a direct interest in the pursuit of quilt history. It is inevitable to learn a tremendous amount of History (and geography) when one studies textiles of any kind. In the course of my studies, I have come across information that spreads across many disciplines: sociological data, economic information, genealogy, the increasing understanding of medical treatments and diagnoses that came about with each successive war, adaptations to changing food supplies, and many other topics.

One area that interests both Jim and I is the availability of food. Just this past week, after reading one reference after the other about how Civil War soldiers carried salt pork with them as a staple food, I learned that, at the time, salt pork was more like Canadian Bacon or smoked pork products and much more “meatier” than the salt pork that we might add to a pot of homemade baked beans today for flavor.

I read tonight about how the Union soldiers, when they had their fellow Confederates within earshot, would taunt them by saying, “Come on over for some wheat bread and coffee,” knowing that the Rebels had access to neither. For the duration of the war, Union soldiers had coffee available. Their Southern counterparts relied on brews that tasted somewhat similar but did not have the caffeine buzz of real coffee. These poor substitutes were made from charred corn cobs or roasted okra.

After reading about 30 books recently about the Civil War, I have become the Queen of Obscure Facts. One of those facts is that “ague” (“the shakes”) is a synonym for “malaria.” This was best treated with quinine, a prized commodity that was in short supply. Many soldiers contracted the disease because it was carried by mosquitoes, particularly a danger in swampy areas, and when soldiers did not have much in the way of bedding or tents. Another danger was malnutrition, particularly scurvy, a.k.a. “the dietary disease.” When fresh vegetables and fruit were not available, as was often the case, soldiers came down with this ailment which could be fatal.

Besides food, the other major concern of people on both sides of the conflict was access to textiles. I will address that topic in my much anticipated presentation on August 16. For details, please check the front page of my main website. Jim Cummings (an Army veteran of the Vietnam War era) will be wearing a Civil War uniform and I’ll be in a “day dress” with a hoop. I’ve planned a lot to share in a limited time period and hope that some of the obscure facts and stories I’ll relate will help to add a charming ambiance to this event. It will be an afternoon event involving music, quilts, projected slide images of historic quilts from the time period, and other historical artifacts, I have a feeling that my strong interest in the topic of quilts and women on the Civil War homefront will continue long after I’ve given this talk. The Civil War is just fascinating in terms of personal sacrifices and the changes the War effected in society.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan Claimed as a Taliban Victory

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

With sadness of heart, I saw the news report today of 30 more American deaths of special operations military members whose helicopter was shot down. The Taliban is claiming victory for the attack. My thoughts turn to the “Home of the Brave” volunteer quilters who have already created and distributed more than 4,500 commemorative quilts to present to grieving families in memory of their lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, there are more quilts to make, more families to try to comfort in a meaningful way, through the work of loving and caring hands!

My heart goes out to the mothers and other family members of the lost soldiers. The possibility of death is always the risk faced by military members on active duty. We are, indeed, the “Home of the Brave!” My thoughts turn to a subject in the book I wrote recently. I describe a soldier who, like many others, came home from World War II and never wanted to “revisit” the topic again by discussing it with anyone! As often as townspeople, friends and family would try to honor him as a hero, he summarily rejected the title, stating that true heroes are the ones who never make it home again (alive).

War is nasty. In my opinion, we have worn out the given reasons for being a military presence in Iraq or Afghanistan. Of course, what do I know? I am “just” a woman with many opinions. I take an anti-war stance. The most horrifying thought revolves around what our desperate economy would look like if we had a lot of returning soldiers who might return to the ranks of the unemployed, as well as what might further happen to government finances or the country if trafficking in war armaments would suddenly come to a grinding halt. A lot of factory jobs could be lost. Are these considerations that are figured into the continuing war presence?

I am sure it is all beyond me to understand. I just have to question the feasibility of this continued placement of our troops in (those) countries. We seem to be trying to share our democratic ideas (and ideals) with people whose history, culture and religion(s) we do not totally understand. Their cut-throat societies seem to be based on male-dominance, violence, fanaticism, repression of women and children, ignorance, and poverty. I just have to continue to ask the question, “Why?”. Furthermore, what have we accomplished and when can we stop trying to change others at such a high price to our own economy and the sacrifices of individual families?

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Love and Valor: Intimate Civil War Letters Between Captain Jacob and Emeline Ritner

Monday, August 1st, 2011

Love and Valor: Intimate Civil War Letters Between Captain Jacob and Emeline Ritner is a very compelling book based on actual letters sent back and forth to Captain Ritner of Iowa, most of them between he and his wife. The letters tell the story of the day to day experiences and impressions of a soldier with a young family at home. He tries to give her financial advice from afar. The government is always behind in paying the troops and at one point an Army paymaster steals money intended for soldier pay. The letters reveal the ongoing health challenges faced by soldiers, what they ate, and various strategies via handwritten maps sent by Ritner to his wife.

The letters are truly love letters that express a desire to be with his beloved, his anxiety over how his children are behaving and faring, and a wish to be able to leave the regiment for a time, just to go on leave.

I am about half-way through reading this book. It is a real “page-turner” that I hate to put down. I am mentioning it here as I think you would enjoy it, also. Written by Charles F. Larimer, a descendant of the Captain, the author adds in historical footnotes that provide background information about all the people mentioned in the letters. He also notes facts about the war that I have not seen elsewhere. This is a very enjoyable “read.” I highly recommend this book!

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Historical Events

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

As they are happening, events of historical importance are often taken in our stride as just another report on the evening news. When we are bombarded with the same news, night after night, with problems we can’t readily change, it is the natural human response to begin to be weary of the reports. Last night, I sat riveted to the television. I happened onto a PBS documentary that explored music in relation to the Civil Rights Movement. I was in Junior High School and in the first years of high school when violence escalated. The footage portrays the terrible violence, even against innocent children, is horrifying. One nine year old boy was stopped on his bicycle, grabbed, and castrated. There were hangings, lynchings, beatings, shootings, stabbings, burnings, tear gas attacks, provoked dog attacks, and such hatred toward people of color, it was/is unfathomable to understand. The thought occurred to me, after being so involved recently in reading about the Civil War, that at the end of that war the Black man got his “freedom” but did not get his “right” to be treated as a human being.

To see Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte and other musicians who were so well known to me in the 1960s, captured on film, brought me back to another place and time. I couldn’t and still can’t believe the hatred spawned by politicians in the south. A song was even sung about the famous/infamous Governor George Wallace.

“We Shall Overcome” may be the best known song that came out of the turmoil, an old song steeped in religious viewpoints. I recognized an old Carter family song, “Shall the Circle be Unbroken?” and many other tunes. I could not help but recall Baez’s melodic voice singing “Carry It On.” (“Every victory’s gonna bring another / Carry it on/ Carry it on/ Carry it on/ Carry it on”).

The sacrifice, in terms of human suffering, has been very great, indeed. What I liked most about the video was the representation of unity through the marching together of protestors, and in some instances, the holding of hands. The music, too, held people together in their resolution to seek the truth and the light where there was only darkness and misery. I never realized before just what horrible places Alabama and Mississippi were in the 1960s, fraught with discrimination and antagonism. I am thankful for films like this. They remind us to never go back and to never buy into prejudice, based on the uncontrollable factor of one’s born skin color.

Unfortunately, we have other unwelcome people in our midst today, according to some. With any justice at all, we can follow the suggestions of some of the “thinkers” of our time such as New York’s mayor. He suggested on “Meet the Press” that if Hispanic/Latino workers paid into Social Security but were not able to collect until they became citizens, this could be a boon to the S.S. system. He is correct. As I have written much about Immigration Reform before, I will not bore you with my thoughts. They are “on the record.” I am happy that others are still trying to find solutions. Down with the stupid notion of “white supremacy.” Hitler is dead.

Patricia Cummings

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Freedom Comes at a Price

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Last night, wanting to watch something on television with some substance, I changed the channel to PBS only to find a documentary film that outlined the persecution of homosexuals in the United States and the decision of some of them to fight back. The year was 1969. I was just ending my high school career and making plans to enter the university. I don’t recall seeing or hearing anything about the events depicted, at the time, or even later. It was a shocking commentary and one in keeping with other happenings of the time.

A concerted effort was being made by those charged with law enforcement to follow men and catch them doing “lewd things in public places.” Once arrested, some of them were sent away to mental hospitals where they received electric shocks while being shown pornography, a method to dissuade them from their perversions, the film stated. Others were not so lucky. One doctor thought that the only “cure” was to perform a lobotomy (in which a portion of the brain is removed).

The footage centered on one particular club, a “gay bar,” that was packed. The six policemen who were charged with confronting the gay men and supposedly, scaring them off, failed dismally and were soon surrounded. They had in essence incited a riot, the first time that homosexuals really had stood up for the right to their own identities. Why, indeed, should the government have any say, whatsoever, in whom anyone loves or with whom anyone associates? Bullies can prevail only as long as they are allowed to do so.

It is hard to know where the strength of the reaction emanated. Was it from a long period of derision, hated-filled messages, and mistreatment at the hands of “professionals?” Or, was it inspired by the concurrent wave of the Black minority populations refusing to sit at the back of the bus, or use separate rest facilities or drinking fountains? In watching the film, I realized how far we have come. By comparison, the 50s and 60s seem like the Dark Ages: a time when we were afraid of a nuclear attack by the Soviets, a time when the issues of puberty were never discussed, and a time when racial prejudice was the norm rather than the exception.

Why do people hate and fear those who are different? Perhaps it is because they do not bother to know individuals but rather just look on “groups” of people and decide they are inferior because they don’t meet a certain standard. I, for one, am happy that today’s society is more liberal in its thinking. We have come a long way, which is not to say that we should not still develop more tolerance, more understanding, and a more open live and let live policy. I am glad the 1960s are over, with its Vietnam War, its flower children, and its shrieking musical performers. I’m also happy that films can remind us of where we’ve been so that we never think of acting that way again.

Patricia Cummings

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The Nineteenth Century

Friday, April 1st, 2011

As I sat quilting today, by hand, I had some time to think. I was pondering the completely unfathomable life that people in America lived during the nineteenth century. Simple things, like keeping one’s own teeth, must have been a major challenge in a day before six-month office visits, x-rays, dental floss, and toothpaste with flouride. There was quite a lot of need for dentists to construct false teeth, as Ellen Webster’s husband did in the late nineteenth century.

I have been reading Civil War diaries. They are amazing things. Talk about looking/sounding illiterate. The Yankee ones I’ve been viewing are incredible. “Good Knight!”, “curidge,” and many other quaint spellings abound. Orthography is a science in itself. I can read the diaries and tell from the gist of the remarks what is meant. I can’t imagine anyone for whom English is a second language being able to do the same.

Medicine was way behind the times. People routinely died of diseases for which we have ready inoculations today. A treatments like bleeding a patient now seems barbaric to us today, and that practice did in fact make matters worse. The use of Calomel and other poisons eventually killed people, such as writer, Louisa May Alcott. Mill work was common and in cotton mills, lint and dust filled the airs and lungs of women and children, and later men, who were in many cases locked into the work environment with the windows sealed to keep high the level of humidity so threads would not break.

Putting food by was another concern before refrigerators and freezers made that less of a problem. Women, in addition to child-rearing, were expected to can food or bury it in the cold cellar, a sandy patch in a basement, to keep (especially root crops) over the winter like winter squash, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, etc.

There were no shopping malls. The local convenience store was a place to not only buy but sell or trade commodities. Of course, there was no “fast food” unless you consider an apple hurriedly picked from a neighbor’s tree.

Socks were most often hand-knit and shoes were made of leather when a cow died of old age and the usable parts were harvested. Clothing was inconvenient and cumbersome. Women wore hoops under their dresses and wouldn’t be without that attire unless, for example, they were doing farm chores because their husband was away at war.

A lot of the conveniences we take for granted simply were not present or even heard of during the century in question. I like the poets and writers; and the abolitionists, who were convicted in their principles. I even like the politicians of the time who were trying to make a difference and who, by their participation in the greater forum of political expression, helped to shape America as it is today. Any book or video about the nineteenth century is captivating. Who said that history is dull? Some of the finest minds lived during that time period.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Julia Louisa Lovejoy and Events Leading to the American Civil War

Monday, February 21st, 2011

My first knowledge of a New Hampshire woman named Julia Louisa Lovejoy came while I was researching the life and times of her niece, Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster (1867-1950). Julia and her husband Charles were staunch abolitionists (people who oppose slavery) who belonged to the Methodist Church. In fact, he was a minister. They set off for Kansas Territory where a dispute was raging between slave owners and those who wanted all Americans to be free. Clouding the fact was the 1854 Kansas / Nebraska Act declared that Kansas and Nebraska could decide the issue in their respective states.

In reading Julia’s diary, it is apparent that she feared the Lord tremendously and was ever self-accusatory in recounting her “sins.” I lost track of the many miscarriages she had, always blaming them on her own inadequacy as a Christian believer. Julia and Charles arrived in Kansas in 1855. At the time, they had three children, Charles J., Juliette and little Edith. Julia was expecting a baby when Edith suddenly died of the measles on May 3, 1855. Julia’s last baby was named Irving.

One can imagine how frightened Julia must have been to be alone in unknown territory while her husband traveled to spread the abolitionist message and save souls. In May 1856, a pro-slavery mob showed up in Lawrence, a hot bed of this kind of activity, shooting up the town, etc. Keep in mind that 1856 was prior to the start of the Civil War by five years. Born in 1812, Julia would have been only 44 years old that year. Later, in August 1863, after the war had officially begun, she watched as the Confederate Army burned the town of Lawrence and committed savage murders. Julia Louisa Lovejoy’s legacy is her written record of her own life and the times in which she lived, as well as her many descriptive letters begging financial help from readers of newspapers in the north.

The Lovejoys returned east briefly but quickly decided to go back to Kansas. Julia died on February 6, 1882 on a farm that Charles had purchased in Baldwin, Kansas.

Her photo appears in my book, as well as additional information: Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster (1867-1950): Her Amazing Quilt “Charts,” Her Writings and Her Life. This is available from our website or from amazon.com

Julia is mentioned in Ken Burn’s exceptional film: “The West.”

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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The Guicciardini Quilt: Conservation of the Deeds of Tristan

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

close-up Guicciardini quilt

This photo provided by Kathryn Berenson is a close-up view of the Guicciardini quilt, companion to a quilt at the V&A in London and one in a private collection.

A note from Kathryn Berenson of Paris:

I write in reference to a new English-language title, The Guicciardini Quilt: Conservation of the Deeds of Tristan, released December 2010 by Edifir, a publishing house in Florence, Italy. Editors are Rosanna Caterina Proto Pisani, Marco Ciatti, Susanna Conti, and Maria Grazia Vaccari. Translator: Diane Kunzelman.

In brief, the Guicciardini Quilt, in the collection of the National Museum of the Bargello, Florence, and its sister piece in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, are two white linen quilted works that illustrate episodes from the Tristan legend. They are the sole surviving quilted works in public institutions that date circa 1360-1400 and are attributed to an atelier in southern Italy. As such, they are key pieces in understanding medieval interpretations of the quilted textile arts.

The Guicciardini Quilt monograph includes a full study of the Bargello piece, information that is equally pertinent to the one in London.

The Art-Historical section addresses the possible origin of the Guicciardini quilt, its subsequent provenance, materials, techniques used in its making, and theories as to its use and separation from its sister piece in the Victoria and Albert Museum. A historical review covers the significance of the Tristan legend motifs and other iconography encountered in medieval textiles, and traces figurative white quilts to the medieval kingdom of Naples. Contributors to this section include Rosanna Caterina Proto Pisani, Maria Grazia Vaccari, Maria Stragapede and Kathryn Berenson.

The Technical Section addresses the conservation project developed for this rare piece carried out by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (OPD), the Italian national arts conservation laboratory. Conservators at the OPD studied the Guicciardini quilt extensively during their years of work and assembled a valuable trove of scholarly information. Innovative conservation techniques are presented in detail. Contributors include Marco Ciatti, Susanna Conti, Pietro Capone, Francesca Parotti, Maria Stragapede, and Roberto Boddi, all of the OPD.

Two replicas of the Tristan quilts are discussed in the final section.

The V&A Tristan quilt is currently on exhibition in the museum’s medieval galleries. The Guicciardini quilt was on exhibition April – June 2010, in Florence and has been returned to appropriate conservation storage. A replica of it made by Silvana Vannini is on display at the Palazzo Davanzati, Florence.

The Guicciardini “Quilt” is a high-quality, 138 page paperback with 20 color and 40 black and white images, 150 pound interior stock and 300 pound cover stock; size 11 x 8.25 inches.
(ISBN 978-7970-493-9). Price 30€/25 £/ US$45.

At present, copies may be ordered from kwberenson@aol.com In U.S. $, the total cost is $47.77 (Media Mail) and $49.95 (Priority Mail), payable by check. Please contact Kathryn for information about where to mail the check.

(The Italian-language edition, La Coperta Guicciardini: il restauro delle imprese di Tristano, was released by Edifir in April, 2010, in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name, ISBN 978-7970-467-0.)

Note from Patricia Cummings: If you love medieval textiles, you will enjoy a series of books titled Medieval Clothing and Textiles edited by Robin Netherton and Gale R. Owne-Crocker. In Volume 5, the Guicciardini quilt is again featured.

This information is brought to you as a courtesy of Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Conformity and One’s Place of Standing in Society

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Susan B. Anthony: The Biography of a Singular Feminist by Kathleen Barry ((New York and London: New York University Press, 1988), page 58, states these words of Susan B. Anthony:

Women might work like galley slaves for their own relatives, receiving only their board and clothes, and hold their social position in the community; but the moment they (women) stepped outside of home and became wage-earners, thus securing pecuniary independence, they lost caste and were rigidly banned from quilting bees, the apple-parings, and all the society functions of the neighborhoods.

This statement is from Susan B. Anthony, “The Status of Woman, Past, Present, and Future,” The Arena (May 1897): 902.

Using those words as a point of comparison to today’s women, one can see that much has changed on the one hand. On the other hand, the level of acceptance for any diversionary behavior from the norm remains a point of non-acceptance. Let me explain. In the nineteenth century, when those words were shared, it was expected that the “woman of the house” would be just that. In the philosophical world of nineteenth century thinkers of England, a demure, the stay-at-home wife was the ideal. She was in charge of the smooth operations of home life and could be seen doing her needlework when not engaged in some other domestic activity.

To work outside the home could be viewed as a bit “uppity” and not within the sphere of domestic bliss. The situation also smacked of poverty. What? Your husband isn’t man enough to provide for you? Of course, in this instance, Susan B. Anthony taught school, a noble profession, and one that helped to put bread on the table until she could not stand the confines of a classroom any longer. She attempted to find various ways of making money such as starting up a newspaper with her best friend, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. As a free-thinker and a woman who was full of revolutionary ideas, it is clear to see why she thought that she no longer fit in at quilting bees, after a time, reportedly finding no intelligence there.

These statements beg the question that is now an age-old one: Do women have to be just one flavor in order to fit in with each other? Do they have to all share the same opinion and then, gang up on the one dissenter or the one person who rattles their cages and makes them feel a bit outside their comfort zone?

To be perfectly honest, at times, I have felt exactly like Susan B. Anthony in the face of petty minds and self-aggrandizing souls. “Beam me up, Scottie! There’s no intelligent life down here!” is a saying that comes to mind. Yet, Susan spoke her mind, picked her fights, proselytized like an evangelical, and believed in rights for women (whether they wanted those rights for themselves, or not). She is my heroine, as is any woman who speaks her own mind and sticks to her principles. Hurrah for Susan B. Anthony! Life has never been the same since women finally achieved the right to vote in 1920!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications – read my article about Susan B. Anthony

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Dr. Anna Littlefield

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

Little did I know, when I was writing an article for The Quilter a few months ago, that there is a terrific article online about one of the people whom I mention. The memory of Dr. Anna Littlefield, a physician in New London, New Hampshire, is kept alive by her great nephew, Lloyd Littlefield who lives in her former home and has kept her medical bag, journals, and family photos pretty much as she left them. The article published by Kearsarge Magazine, a local New Hampshire publication, is a very rewarding read that I’m sure you will enjoy.

Her horse drawn carriage is owned by the New London Historical Society and is kept in their Transportation Building. It was great fun to visit this historic site recently. The article we prepared (text and photos) is published in the current (February-March 2011 issue of The Quilter magazine).

For more information about Dr. Littlefield, visit: http://www.kearsargemagazine.com/images/pdf/dr_anna.pdf or Google her name, as I did.

To read my article, “The New London Historical Society: Quilts and Other Treasures” obtain a copy of The Quilter magazine at Borders, Barnes & Noble and other venues. To order a subscription, click on the link below:

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“The Fire That Changed America”

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

A little more than three months before my father was born in 1911, a tragic and unforgettable fire in New York City’s garment district resulted in 146 deaths (mostly women). Little known to the textile workers located in the uppermost reaches of a building, managers had locked them in. It is assumed that someone threw a lit cigarette in a bin of scrap fabric which soon ignited into a haze of flame and smoke. Fire engines arrived on the scene, but alas, their ladders would not reach the height needed to be of any assistance. Rather than be burned alive, people began jumping, and with thud after thud, their dead bodies littered the sidewalk. This tragedy resulted in better labor laws but not without the cost of the loss of human life.

The date all of this occurred was March 25, 1911. I remember discussing the incident with Joan Kiplinger who was always a fan of anything called a textile and who loved learning about types of fabrics and the mills that produced them. She recommended a book which I read, cover to cover. It is riveting. The name of it is Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle. This book is totally worthwhile.

If you prefer to read an overview of the incident online, you might want to view the information offered at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_file I appreciate Joan for having brought this topic to my attention, long before she passed on.

For many reasons, I am happy to be living today and not in the age of the mill workers who had to endure criminal conditions that jeopardized their health. Often, they died of consumption (TB), as a result of ingesting all of the cotton linters flying around in the air, as well as being exposed to very humid conditions within walls whose windows were sealed shut. If you have teenagers who whine about doing an actual chore around the house, remind them for me that children in the past had life FAR WORSE, and so did women.

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