#harrietpowers

Harriet Powers’ beautiful story telling quilts are an important look into African American life after liberation. Today we can see her quilts in the Smithsonian collection. 🎨 Illustration from my book Women In Art . . . #womeninart #quilt #harrietpowers #fiberart #arthistory #reconstruction https://www.instagram.com/p/B4DQ5aBpz3J/?igshid=oo03gb4wr06d

#HarrietPowers (October 29, 1837 – January 1, 1910) was an #AfricanAmerican #slave, #folkartist, and #quiltmaker from rural #Georgia. She used traditional appliqué techniques to record local legends, Bible stories, and astronomical events on her quilts. Only two of her quilts are known to have survived: Bible Quilt 1886 and Pictorial Quilt 1898. Her quilts are considered among the finest examples of nineteenth-century Southern quilting. Her work is on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. Powers was born into slavery near Athens, Georgia. Historians say she spent her early life on a plantation owned by John and Nancy Lester in Madison County, Georgia, where it is believed she learned to sew from other slaves or from her mistress. Though an 1895 Chicago Tribune article about the Cotton States and International Expo characterizes Powers as ignorant and illiterate, only learning Bible stories from "others more fortunate", quilt historian Kyra E. Hicks discovered during research for her book This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces a letter written by Powers explaining how she came to be literate and that she learned bible stories, which served as the inspiration for her quilt work storytelling through her own study of the bible. In 1855, at the age of eighteen, Powers married Armstead Powers. They had at least nine children. Harriet's husband, Armstead Powers identified himself as a 'farmhand' in the 1870 census; Harriet is listed as 'keeping house', and three children, Amanda, Leon Joe (Alonzo) and Nancy lived at home. In the 1880s, after being freed at the end of the Civil War, they owned four acres of land and had a small farm. During the 1890s, due to financial difficulty, her husband slowly sold off parcels of their land, defaulted on taxes, and eventually left Harriet and their farm in 1895. Powers never remarried and probably supported herself as a seamstress. For most of her life she lived in Clarke County, mainly in Sandy Creek and Buck Branch. #BlackLivesMatter #BlackArtistsMatter (at U.S. Embassy Singapore) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBMwJMYFlLT/?igshid=zaujylnpg748

Block #5 Detail of Bible Quilt by Harriet Powers. Photograph © Smithsonian National Museum of American History. . . #herchive #arthistory #illustration #harrietpowers #southernquilting #freedomquilts #folkartist #blackhistory #19thcentury #archive #women #artist #AfricanAmericanArtist #womenartist #femaleartists #womenartists #femaleartists #designhistory #textiledesign #patterndesign #equality #womenempoweringwomen https://www.instagram.com/p/BvbtRG2Fodd/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=76vfagipzbzq

Harriet Powers. Photograph © unknown, obtained via Textiles in Context. . . #herchive #arthistory #illustration #harrietpowers #southernquilting #freedomquilts #folkartist #blackhistory #19thcentury #archive #women #artist #AfricanAmericanArtist #womenartist #femaleartists #womenartists #femaleartists #textiledesign #patterndesign #equality #womenempoweringwomen https://www.instagram.com/p/BvRJYxKl2ru/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5j4afmp2gonh

Harriet Powers (1837-1910) was an African American folk artist and quilt maker born into slavery in Georgia, USA.
 Created using traditional African appliqué, piecework, machine and hand stitching techniques, Powers’ quilts portrayed Bible stories, local folklore and astronomical events. Only two of her narrative quilts are known to have survived -- Bible Quilt (1886) and Pictorial Quilt (1898), made after the American Civil War. Both works are considered to be exemplary of nineteenth-century Southern quilting, and Powers left a description of each scene depicted in both quilts, explaining what each panel represents.Though we only know about these two narrative quilts, Powers also mentioned four more quilts in a letter she wrote in 1896, alluding to another biblical work referred to as the Lord's Supper Quilt. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of these quilts remains unknown. Today, the Bible Quilt belongs to the National Museum of American History collection in Washington, D.C. while the Pictorial Quilt can be seen at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Harriet Powers was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame in 2009 and in 2010, her hometown of Athens, Georgia officially declared the 30th of October as Harriet Powers Day. Illustration @inescosta.me Text edit @melisagrayward Photos: Harriet Powers. Photograph © unknown, obtained via Textiles in Context. @mfaboston Pictorial Quilt by Harriet Powers. Photographs © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston #herchive #arthistory #illustration #harrietpowers #southernquilting #freedomquilts #folkartist #blackhistory #19thcentury #archive #women #artist #AfricanAmericanArtist #womenartist #femaleartists #womenartists #femaleartists #designhistory #textiledesign #patterndesign #equality #womenempoweringwomen #iwd #iwd2019 https://www.instagram.com/p/BvMEF1vF62K/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qbijtdxo7qld

Harriet Powers (1837-1910), born into slavery, African-American folk artist and quilt maker #harrietpowers #harrietpowersquilt #quiltmaker #womensart https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn_L8MhnzX9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=b7jydg58vv5n

Appliqué story skirt (late 19th century) in the manner of Harriet Powers (1837-1910), African American slave, folk artist & quilt maker from rural Georgia. She used traditional appliqué techniques to record local legends, Bible stories & astronomical events on her quilts. #harrietpowers

Harriet Powers (1837-1910) was an African-American slave, folk artist, and quilt maker from rural Georgia. She used traditional appliqué techniques to record local legends, Bible stories, and astronomical events on her quilts. #harrietpowers #blackhistorymonth #ekwetzel