Freedom Quilting Bee

The Freedom Quilting Bee was a quilting cooperative based in Wilcox County, Alabama that operated from 1966 until 2012. Originally begun by African American women to generate income, some of the Bee's quilts were displayed in the Smithsonian Institution.

The Freedom Quilting Bee was a quilting cooperative with members located throughout the Black Belt of Alabama.^[1] Black women created the cooperative in 1966 to generate income for their families. In December of 1965 the Episcopal priest Francis X. Walter was in Wilcox county Alabama, when a quilt on a clothesline outside a small home caught his eye. He had long been fascinated by American folk art and was interested in the quilt’s bold design. ^[2]The women began selling their quilts to Father Francis X. Walter who purchased them for $10 a piece. Father Walter was a priest who was returning to the area as part of the Selma Inter-religious Project.^[1] He received a seven hundred dollar grant and traveled through the Black Belt looking for quilts that a friend of his would sell in New York at auction.^[3]In the early stages, before the Freedom Quilting Bee was fully formed, quilts were sometimes made for sale in New York, while others were from the quilters' own beds or even family heirloom quilts from storage closets, sold to Father Walter because of the need for money for their families. ^[2]Originally Father Walter intended on using the majority of the extra money earned from the quilts once they were sold at auction to fund the Wilcox Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the remainder to be paid to the quilters themselves. But upon reflection, Father Walter noticed that there could be a need for a quilting co-operative, and he decided that the artists themselves should receive the money from the auctions.^[2]

After the first auction in New York City, the quilts gained critical acclaim and popularity, prompting the craftswomen to organize an official quilting cooperative.^[4] And thus the Freedom Quilting Bee was formed, with more than 60 quilters at their first meeting in a local church in March 1966.^[2] The Freedom Quilting Bee, as an alternative economic organization, is part of a history of collective economic work of Black Americans. These alternative economics were used to raise the socioeconomic status of poor Black communities by allowing them to continue working in their own communities, while also reaching people across the country with their art.^[5][2] During the late 1960s and 1970s, the cooperative changed its operations to increase profits through a more mass-market model. New Yorker Stanley Selengut was hired as the industrial development consultant. Working for travel expenses alone, he brought their quilts to New York City and helped the cooperative make deals with Bloomingdales and Sears.^[6][7]

On March 8, 1969, the Bee began construction on the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Sewing Center, designed by architect Martin Stein gratis and funded by small philanthropic foundations and through an interest-free loan from the American Friends Service Committee, Atlanta. The 4500-square-foot building was constructed by the husbands of the quiltmakers and other nonprofessional workers because the project only had funds to pay one skilled builder. Finding a property to buy had been difficult, because Southern whites refused to sell to blacks. The sale of the land to the Bee's members had been so unlikely that they bought all they could, 17 acres, with plans to resell parcels to blacks, largely shut out of the real estate market.^[2]

In 1970, Reverend Xavier found a white Catholic nun, Sister Catherine Martin, to help with office duties such as typing, invoicing, and bookkeeping twice a week. Martin helped the Bee establish a system in which the women were paid for piecework they did on the Bee's big contracts. Some of the women had never had an opportunity to be paid for their labor; the Bee's payments enabled them to raise the standard of living for themselves and their families.

In the early 1970s Mary Boykin Robinson helped found, and became the director of the Freedom Quilting Bee Daycare Center which served the children of the mothers who worked for the Bee. The Daycare center was open from 1970-1996.^[2]

Membership in the Freedom Quilting Bee dwindled in the 1990s and the community space they used was damaged by weather. In 2012, a year after the last original board member died, the Bee officially closed.^[1] Commonly confused with the Quilters of Gee's Bend, the Freedom Quilting Bee was a separate organization with a similar mission and overlapping membership.

Influential members of the Freedom Quilting Bee include Willie "Ma Willie" Abrams and her daughter, Estelle Witherspoon. Both women come from the town of Rehoboth, Alabama, a town ten miles north of Gee's Bend and a hub for the Bee.^[1] Abrams, a talented quilter, produced many of the quilts sold, and was instrumental to the Bee in its formative years. Witherspoon, an influential political leader in Rehoboth, worked as the head manager of the organization for over twenty years.^[8] Other important founding members were Minder Pettway Coleman, Aolar Carson Mosely (pronounced a-O-lur), Mattie Clark Ross, Mary Boykin Robinson, China Grove Myles, Lucy Marie Mingo, Nettie Pettway Young, and Polly Mooney Bennett.^[9] Mary Lee Bendolph of Gee's Bend also participated briefly.^[10]

Mrs. Coleman was born in Wilcox county in October 1903, and lived just one mile from the famous Gee’s Bend in the Quilting Bee’s hay day. Minder learned to quilt as a small child, and soon realized she had a knack for the art. Mrs. Coleman was a farmer her whole life, and also spent some years working at a cloth factory, and later an okra factory. While working at the cloth factory, she would collect the discarded scraps of fabric, and save them for use in her quilts. She also frequently used flour and fertilizer sack fabric in her quilts.

Once she joined the Freedom Quilting Bee, she donated the scraps she had collected to her fellow quilting artists. Minder’s most famous quilting style is the Double Wedding Ring; she also created her own pattern that resembled two eggplants joined together. Mrs. Coleman did not receive pay for her work for the Freedom Quilting Bee Co-operative, nor did she receive money for the sale of her quilts. She instead gave the money to the Quilting Bee to be used for the creation of a new center for the quilters. Mrs. Coleman continued to work full-time for the Bee until 1978 when her husband became ill, and subsequently died later that same year.^[2]

Born in May 1912, Aolar learned to sew at the young age of eleven, when she sewed a dress for herself that her mother had cut out to be sewn. Aolar used a sewing machine both then, and when she quilted. It wasn’t until the age of twelve though that Aolar made her first quilt. Aolar’s mother was a quilter herself; as a small child Aolar along with her siblings helped collect the materials for her mother to use as quilting frames. They would collect the wood from nearby forests that their father would fashion into the quilting frames. Aolar was unable to finish school past fifth-grade as her family was unable to afford to send her. Aolar married Wisdom Mosely, a farmer, in 1929 at age seventeen. Together they had seventeen children, only thirteen of whom survived childhood.^[2]

While Aolar did quilt herself, she mainly contributed to the Bee by managing and tutoring others. She also contributed by making meals for the co-op members, and by completing small tasks such as framing quilts. Mrs. Mosely worked at the co-op until 1981; after this point she continued to work at the sewing center as a volunteer. In the fall of 1984 Mrs. Mosely’s home burned to the ground destroying all of her belongings and remaining quilts. Within a few months, however, her grandson, a brick mason, re-built her a home on the same land as a gift to his grandmother who had sponsored his education. ^[2]

Mattie Ross was described as a farmer, quilter, a choir member at Oak Groves Baptist Church, and a civil rights activist. In addition to all these things, Mattie was also the Freedom Quilting Bee’s treasurer. Mattie quilted in many different styles including the Missouri Star, and a pattern known as the Double T. ^[2]

Miss China Groves Myles was born in 1888 in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. She sewed well into her eighties, and was one of the few still left in Gee’s Bend who knew how to sew the complicated Pine Burr quilt pattern. In 1966 China Grove accompanied Estelle Witherspoon, Witherspoon's mother Willie Abrams, Father Walter and two others to the Mobile Art Gallery where one of Miss Miley’s quilts was being displayed.^[2]

Lucy Mingo, born in 1930, is from a long line of quilters. She never worked at the center itself, but created quilts in her off hours at her home located in Gee’s Bend. Lucy learned how to piece quilts at age fourteen, but did not actually sew one in totality until she was married in 1949. Lucy also sews the Pine Burr pattern that was taught to her by her aunt through marriage, China Groves Myles. One example of a Lucy Mingo quilt contains 90 blocks, each containing 265 pieces, which totals 23,850 individually sewn pieces. ^[2][11][12]

Nettie Young was born in 1916 to a father who had been a slave in Alabama, though Nettie herself was born free. Nettie’s father was a farmer once he gained his freedom, and she grew up there on the farm he rented. Nettie only attended around eight months of school in her life due to the family not being able to afford to send her or her siblings. In the 1960s Nettie took part in the civil rights movement, and was even arrested for her participation in them. Nettie was a co-manager and quilter starting at the very beginning of the Freedom Quilting Bee’s existence. Nettie married Clint Young around 1934, and the couple had eleven children. One of Nettie's favorite quilt patterns is reported to be The Bricklayer pattern.^[2][13]

Polly Bennett was born in Gee’s Bend Alabama in 1922. At age six her parents separated and left her in the care of her grandmother Mary Brown Mooney. Mary Mooney was a tenant farmer, and Polly helped on the farm starting at a young age. Polly was able to attend a school in Boiling Springs, but was no longer able to attend after grade six. Mrs. Bennett was involved with the Bee starting in its early stages.^[2]

“Ma Willie" was born in 1897 in Wilcox County Alabama, where she was raised by her grandmother. “Ma” Willie was one of the oldest participating members until her death in 1987. She began quilting at the age of twelve, with the guidance of her grandmother. While she did know how to use a sewing machine, she normally chose to work by hand. “Ma” Willie and her husband Eugene Abrams were tenant farmers, which they continued until the Quilting Bee provided them with an alternative way to earn a living. “Ma” Willie would mostly craft bonnets for the Bee, which were to be sold for $2 a piece. When “Ma” Willie did quilt she preferred to do so at her own home instead of at the sewing center, often choosing to sew on her front porch. Some of “Ma” Willie’s quilts are in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.^[2][14]

Estelle Witherspoon, born in January of 1916 is the only daughter of “Ma” Willie Abrams. Estelle is one of the founding members of the Freedom Quilting Bee, and has been its spokesperson since its inception. Estelle also has an extensive background in civil rights activism, working to achieve voting rights, and later working as a poll worker. She also participated in a march in 1971 calling for desegregation in Wilcox county schools.^[2][15]

The Bee quilts were stitched from scraps of cloth using patterns reflective of the history of Black quilting in the area. Some of these patterns included the Nine Patch, Monkey Wrench, the Lock and Key, Pine Burr, Missouri Star, The Bricklayer, Gentleman’s Bow Tie, The Chestnut Bud, Grandmother’s Choice, Grandmother’s Dream, Snowball, and a pattern known as the Double T.^[2] The craft was usually learned from a mother or grandmother. Some of the scraps of cloth even came from old denim clothes that were too old to continue wearing in the cotton fields.^[16]

• "Revelations: Art from the African American South." - De Young Museum. June 3rd to April 1st, 2018.^[14]
• "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt." - Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. June 4th to September 4th, 2006.^[14]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. September 6th to November 10th, 2002.^[14]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Whitney Museum of American Art. November 21st, 2002, to March 9th, 2003.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Mobile Museum of Art. June 14th to August 31st 2003.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Milwaukee Art Museum. September 27th, 2003 to January 4th, 2004.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Corcoran Gallery of Art. February 14th to May 17th 2004.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Cleveland Museum of Art. June 27th to September 12th, 2004.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Chrysler Museum of Art. October 15th, 2004 to January 2nd, 2005.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. February 13th to May 8th, 2005.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. June 1st to August 21st, 2005.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University. September 11th to December 4th, 2005.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - High Museum of Art. March 25th to June 18th, 2006.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum. July 15th to November 12th 2006.^[17]
• "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of a Quilt." - Orlando Museum of Art. January 28th to April 22nd, 2007.^[17]
• "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of a Quilt." -Walters Art Museum. June 17th to August 26th, 2008.^[17]
• "The Quilts of Gee's Bend." - Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale. September 6th, 2007 to January 7th, 2008.^[17]
• "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of a Quilt." - Denver Museum of Art. April 13th to July 6th, 2008.^[17]
• "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of a Quilt." - Philadelphia Museum of Art. August 2nd to October 2nd, 2008.^[17]
• "Souls Grown Deep: Artists of the African American South" -Philadelphia Museum of Art, June 8 - September 2, 2019.^[13]
• "Cosmologies from the Tree of Life: Art from the African American South" -Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, June 8 - November 17, 2019.^[13]
• "Creation Story: Gee's Bend Quilts and the Art of Thorton Dial" -First Center for the Visual Arts, May 25 - September 2, 2012.^[13]
• "Gee's Bend: the Architecture of the Quilt" -Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 4 - September 4, 2006."The Quilts of Gee's Bend" -Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 4 - November 10, 2002.^[13]
• "Living Legacies: Art of the African American South." Toledo Museum of Art. January 15th to May 1st, 2022.^[15]
• "Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change." Toledo Museum of Art. November 21st, 2020 to February 14th, 2021.^[15]

After the first auction in New York City the Bee quilts were picked up by Vogue and Bloomingdale's. When the art world began to take notice of the quilts they ended up in an exhibition in the Smithsonian.^[1] A New York Times review called the quilts "some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced."^[4] The quilts have been compared to 20th century abstract styles which are much different than the common orderly American quilting styles.^[18]

• Beardsley, J. (2002). Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Greece: Tinwood Books.
• Arnett, W. (2006). Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt. Greece: Tinwood Books.
• Beardsley, J. (2002). The Quilts of Gee's Bend. Greece: Tinwood Books.
• Cassel Oliver, V. (2019). Cosmologies from the Tree of Life: Art from the African American South. United States: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
• Finley, Cheryl; Griffey, Randall R.; Peck, Amelia; Pinckney, Darryl (2018). My Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9781588396099. OCLC 1022075437.
• Burgard, T. A. (2017). Revelations: Art from the African American South. Germany: Prestel Publishing.
• Callahan, Nancy (1987). The Freedom Quilting Bee. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817303105. OCLC 13332179. Includes a short chapter on Mingo, and a color photograph of the 1966 Chestnut Bud quilt in Diana Vreeland's New York City apartment.