Because nothing says Black Lives Matter like destroying a piece of African-American history: 4:53 PM · Oct 12, 2020
Preserving History: Caring for the Afro-American Heritage Bicentennial Commemorative Quilt
Helen Fedchak | October 6, 2020 The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is proud to collaborate with Portland Textile Month to display and celebrate the Afro-American Heritage Bicentennial Commemorative Quilt during the month of October 2020. The textile dates to 1974, when Jeanette Gates formed a group of fifteen women to sew a quilt honoring the heritage and contributions of the Black community in U.S. history, along with co-chairs Mildred Reynolds and Hazel Whitlow. Gates and other Black women from Portland worked over the following two years, to coincide with the United States Bicentennial in 1976, to create a quilt of thirty fabric squares honoring prominent individuals or moments in history. The quilt then traveled around the country and was eventually exhibited at and donated to the Oregon Historical Society. Readers can learn more about the quilt’s history on the Stitching History: The Afro-American Heritage Bicentennial Commemorative Quilt exhibit web page.
Since its creation, this quilt has remained in high demand for display. Immediately after the quilt was first shown at OHS in 1976, it went on tour, being exhibited at the U.S. Department of State, the Smithsonian, and the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University. When it returned to OHS in 1979, the quilt was displayed again to coincide with the Rose Festival that year.
The quilt was featured in the Political and Campaign Quilt Show at the Kentucky History Museum in 1984. In 1989, the quilt went on national tour again as an integral part of the exhibit Stitching Memories: African-American Story Quilts, developed by William College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts. This exhibit, highlighting narrative quilting in the African American tradition, traveled to New York, California, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and back to New York, reaching audiences from coast to coast.
https://ohs.org/blog/caring-for-the-afro-american-heritage-bicentennial-commemorative-quilt.cfm
In 1976, members of the Afro-American Heritage Bicentennial Commemorative Quilt Committee stand in front of the Afro-American Heritage Bicentennial Commemorative Quilt on display at the Oregon Historical Society. The woman in the back row, underneath the “Right to Vote†square, is Gladys McCoy, the first person of color elected to public office in Oregon. OHS Research Library, OrHi 50382.