Harriet Powers and the Bible Quilt

      Harriet Powers was born into slavery on Oct. 29, 1837. She grew up near Athens, Georgia. By the end of the Civil War, she, her husband Armstead (also a slave) and children were freed. (She had married Armstead Powers in 1855.) The couple had at least nine children; by the 1880s, they also owned at least four acres of land, and a small home. An interview with one of the Powers sons, taken during the Federal Writers' Project, mentioned his father: "He talked about how smart he was, how he had a very sharp mind when it came to making money," according to the Powers' great-great-great-granddaughter, Alyse Minter.

Harriet was no slouch, either. Here she is, about 1900. The sunburst appliqued on her apron was also used on her quilts.

     Eventually the couple came on hard times and were forced to sell part of their land -- but not their house. Armstead left his wife in 1894. Harriet never remarried; little is known how she continued to live. Harriet died Jan. 1, 1910, and had her obituary published in the newspaper. (The local paper, Minter points out -- not the 'Black newspaper.') 

     What set Mrs. Powers apart from her fellow farmwives was her sewing skills. She was taught them as a slave, and probably kept her family clothed by using them. (She may have also sewn for others regularly -- she did so at least once. More on this in a bit.) Sometime before 1886, she made a most unusual quilt. In 1886, she showed it at the local Cotton Fair, where it was admired by a local, Jennie Smith. Smith later recorded:

"I have spent my whole life in the South, and am perfectly familiar with thirty patterns of quilts, but I had never seen an original design, and never a living creature portrayed in patchwork, until the year 1886, when there was held in Athens, Georgia, a 'Cotton-Fair,' which was on a much larger scale than an ordinary county fair, as there was a 'Wild West' show, and Cotton Weddings; and a circum, all at the same time. There was a large accumulation farm products -- the largest potatoes, tallest cotton stalk, biggest water-melon! Best display of pickles and preserves made by exhibitor! Best display of seeds &c and all the attractions usual to such occasions, and in one corner there hung a quilt - which 'captured my eye' and after much difficulty I found the owner, a negro woman, who lives in the country on a little farm whereon she and husband make a respectable living... The scene on the quilt were biblical and I was fascinated. I offered to buy it, but it was not for sale at any price."     

Smith was offered the quilt four years later, but still could not afford it. It's clear that Harriet did not want to sell "the darling offspring of her brain," but Armstead urged her to because of 'hard times.' She asked Smith for ten dollars -- "but I only had five to give." Harriet delivered the quilt wrapped in both a clean floursack and a 'crocus sack.' She described the block subjects for Smith. All were Biblical:

 Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; Paradise with Eve and her son; Satan, pictured with seven stars; Cain's murder of his brother Abel; Cain's trip into the land of Nod to find a wife; Jacob's ladder dream; Christ's baptism, His Crucifixion; Judas Iscariot and his thirty pieces of silver; the Last Supper; and Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus. 

Smith wrote, "Her style is bold and rather on the impressionists order while there is a naievete [sp] of expression that is delicious."

      The Bible Quilt is hand and machine pieced and hand appliqued. The hand quilting is basic: outlining around the motifs, and straight line quilting in the background. (A close examination could tell whether Harriet hand quilted it herself, or had the help of friends and family.) The fabrics are most probably leftovers from family sewing, as well as cheaply-obtained cottons; the muslin used could well have originated from flour sacks. What sets the quilt apart are its strong graphics, which show African textile design influences, as well as Harriet's devotion to the Bible -- and her faith. She loved this quilt, and is known to have visited it several times after Jennie Smith purchased it. 

     Although the quilt was known and admired at the Smithsonian, where it landed after Smith's death in 1946, it became even more famous, thanks to a rather strange backstory decades later. The Smithsonian licensed the rights to several of its better-known quilts in 1992, including a Sunburst (Mariners Compass), a Great Seal, and a floral-and-fruit applique Album, to a Chinese company for reproduction. The Bible Quilt was also chosen, and copied in both twin and queen sizes. What was the Smithsonian thinking? That these were 'just quilts?' Regardless, the uproar seems to have surprised them. Historians, textile-lovers and quilters from all over the world were outraged that these pieces were treated so casually. 

  The Smithsonian never did it again, though they did release fabric lines based on other quilts in their inventory. (I have 'Little Sister' Rising Sun quilt fabrics in my own collection, as well as a twin version of the Bible Quilt.) The effect of that casual treatment, however crass, did bring Harriet's quilt to even more people's attention -- and admiration.

Mrs. Powers made a second Bible Quilt on commission in the 1890s. (That quilt, now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, will be the subject of a future post.) I have always wondered: did she make yet another Bible Quilt for herself, to take the place of the much-loved one she was forced to sell? 

If so, it has not surfaced. 

Photo from the Smithsonian. More on the Bible Quilt is here, including an overview, descriptions and  block closeups.

Mrs. Powers' creative genius and inventive folk art skills have been recognized and admired, particularly in modern circles. Info for this post was taken from several places, including her Wikipedia entry and an interview with one of her descendants. Her grave, thought to be lost, has been found in Athens, Georgia's Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery.   Armstead ('Armsted') died the year before his estranged wife, and is buried in the same cemetery.

Look for a post on Harriet's second Bible Quilt soon.