There is a fear that brews within the elders of Appalachia. A fear that centuries worth of history and tradition will be abandoned by their generational successors. A fear that the erosion of these rolling limestone hills will also carry away the memories embedded within them.
Textiles have an important hand in the cultivation of Appalachian traditions. Basketry, sewing, coverlet weaving, and, most famously, quilting was fostered to meet the needs of early mountain dwellers.
Regional slaves and their freed descendants relied heavily on quilting guilds to survive. They were given the bare minimum and had to take matters into their own hands.
Elder women of the plantations and settlements gathered in sewing circles to make clothing, blankets and more to keep their families warm. Their creations revealed the spiritual kinship that these women had with ancestors, and techniques of a land now hidden from them by mountainous plateaus.
Emily Hudson, Hazard, Ky., native and director of Southeast Kentucky African-American Museum and Cultural Center, comes from a lineage of quilters. Though she never had much interest in quilting, she noticed a decline in the passing down of this tradition to newer generations of Black Appalachians. The evolution of Appalachian townships and cities led to a decrease in the involvement of said guilds.
With the use of a grant from her alma mater, Berea College, she started the “Stories Behind the Quilt” series to explore and connect with remaining communities of Black quilters. “Stories Behind the Quilt” is a three-part docuseries, started in 2021, that features interviews and workshops of locals and their quilting journeys.
Hudson’s search for quilters in her area was not an easy feat. “The first season, I remember grieving,” she shared. “It’s like, man, I can’t find any that are actively quilting.”
Of the quilters that Hudson was able to bring together, many had similar stories about why they began. Though quilting is considered an art today, it was about survival back then. Scarcity of resources brought communities together to make do with what they had.
“They didn’t have a Walmart fabric department to go to, or any other stores,” Hudson expressed. “They made their quilts using old clothes, feed sacks, any kind of thing that they could find to sew into a quilt.”
The first quilter to share her story in the series was a fellow local resident in her late 80’s, Mrs. Katie Glover. Glover grew up quilting and hand sewing with her mother, but had never finished a quilt of her own until participating in the workshop.
“After that workshop she picked it back up. She was turning out quilts and making them for her family,” Hudson stated.
Season one of the series was intended to highlight the fact that Black quilting in Appalachia has a multifaceted history. Early quilting had ties to African heritage, but, as it evolved, it mutated into a mix of African and American Appalachian history in one. Some like to use the term “Afrilachian.”
“We know that the Black stories have been left out of history for so long,” Hudson voiced. “What we’re doing is telling that story and making sure it is included, but we’re telling it under the overall context of Appalachian history.”
Hudson added, “It is American history, but it’s always been left out.”
The first season was well received by the locals of Hazard and its neighboring counties. As the series goes on, more elders in the area are joining the workshops to fellowship and connect with their roots. Several of them had never sewn or made a quilt before, but shared the experience of watching their mothers, aunts and grandmothers do so when they were children.
“After the first season, people who participated in the workshop were so excited and inspired about that season and sewing and what they learned,” Hudson conveyed. “You actually had people that’s never sewn before, never made a quilt before, going out and buying sewing machines so they could sew!”
The series had been fantastic, and Hudson was excited, but she still felt as though an important piece to the puzzle was missing. There were many elders, but no younger participants. One of the main motivators of the creation of the series was to pass the knowledge down to the newer generations.
“They share a lot of information that our young people need to know today,” said Hudson, “This is a reminder that, hey, we got a culture and a history and heritage that we can be proud of, and hopefully that will encourage this younger generation.”
Prayers seemed to have been answered in the most recent season of the series. Highschooler, Dashae Beatty, participated in the workshop to make her very first quilt. The quilt was going to be auctioned to earn money for Beatty to participate in a pageant in Lexington. Beatty also comes from a lineage of quilters, noting that she inherited quilts made by her great grandmother.
Sometimes, in trying to teach the youth, we all learn something new. “I think it inspired us all because of her enthusiasm about quilting and learning how to quilt,” Hudson shared.
Hudson hopes to take the workshops into local schools and give kids an opportunity to learn about the history and art of quilting.
“Stories Behind the Quilt” is a brilliant example of acknowledging how fragments of history can be scattered across timelines and how important it is to gather these fragments and make memories whole again.
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