Overview

"Whitework: Women Stitching Identity provides the first in-depth exploration of American-produced whitework textiles. Made during a time when women had no public voice, white quilts and counterpanes - called ""whitework"" - survive as material records of both personal identity and collective political expression. American women who made whitework between 1790 and 1830 were providing utilitarian textiles for their beds, as well as expressing personal preferences through the motifs found on the textiles. Yet their meaning was much deeper: the women were expressing support of patriotic efforts to reduce dependence on imported British textiles, emphasizing their new identity of American independence while maintaining a cultural tradition that began in the early Medieval period. These textiles also counteract traditional narratives of Early Republic women, especially along the frontier regions like Kentucky. Further examination of these textiles reveals a narrative not largely addressed in Colonial Revival notions: evidence of the participation of enslaved Blacks in the creation of whitework textiles. These stories add critical context while rectifying an oversight in histories of the Early Republic frontier. Whitework: Women Stitching Identity is based on a 2021 exhibition produced by the Kentucky Museum and Kentucky Historical Society with guest curator Laurel Horton."

Full Product Details

9781087881553

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Laurel Horton is an internationally acclaimed quilt researcher, author, editor, and lecturer who has studied and made quilts since 1975. Her numerous publications include books, research articles, book reviews, and popular articles. She consults with museums to curate exhibitions of historic quilts, write catalog essays, and prepare interpretive materials. Horton is a member of the American Quilt Study Group since 1982, and the former editor of Uncoverings, AQSG's annual volume of research papers. She has also, since 1990, taught quiltmaking at the John C. Campbell Folk School.Dr. Margaret Ordo�ez is a former Professor of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising, and Design at the University of Rhode Island. She also served as Director of the Historic Textile Collection at the Textile and Conservation Laboratory and the Textile Gallery at the University of Rhode Island. She co-edited Down By the Old Mill Stream: Quilts in Rhode Island and, in 2004, was named a Fellow of the Costume Society. She currently serves as Professor Emerita at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Margaret Ordo�ez is a former Professor of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising, and Design at the University of Rhode Island. She also served as Director of the Historic Textile Collection at the Textile and Conservation Laboratory and the Textile Gallery at the University of Rhode Island. She co-edited Down By the Old Mill Stream: Quilts in Rhode Island and, in 2004, was named a Fellow of the Costume Society. She currently serves as Professor Emerita at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Kate Brown is an Assistant Professor of History at Western Kentucky University, where she teaches courses focused on the American Founding Era, Early Republic, and American Legal History. She recently published Alexander Hamilton and the Development of American Law (University Press of Kansas, 2017), and was a 2003 Gilder Lehrman Fellow.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available