Pauli Murray: Poet, Protester, Priest

I first read about Pauli Murray while researching women abolitionists and Civil Rights leaders for my quilt I Will Lift My Voice Like A Trumpet. I was pleased to be granted access to the e-galley of Pauli's memoir, first published in 1987, now available in a new edition. The forward is by Patricia Bell-Scott, author of The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Justice.

Pauli was born in 1910 and was raised by her school teacher aunt. Pauli was a gifted student who attended Hunter College in New York City. During the Depression, she found employment with the WPA as a teacher and began to publish her poetry and a novel. She found a mentor in Stephen Vincent Benet.

During the war years and early 1950s Pauli became involved with Civil Rights, challenging segregation, and formed a relationship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1941 she began her law studies at Howard University and helped to form CORE and the development of passive resistance.

Harvard law school would not accept Pauli based on her sex. She attended the University of California Boalt School of Law. Her thesis was on equal opportunity in employment. With her color and sex against her, Pauli had trouble making a living practicing law.

In 1956 she published a book on her family history, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family. She taught law in Ghana for several years. Back in the US she resumed work in Civil Rights and became active as a feminist and was an organizer for NOW.

In her later life, Pauli worked for equal opportunity for women as church leaders. She became the first African American woman ordained to the Episcopal priesthood.

Pauli saw huge changes in her lifetime. At her birth, she was labeled colored but chose to use the designation Negro. During the rise of black power movements, she resisted the term black, resenting its lowercase nomenclature. She was a pacifist and anti-segregationist who had trouble with the rise of Black Power movements and the younger generation's demands for separate campus organizations. Early she was attracted to Socialism and spent her last years as in the priesthood.

The memoir is filled with details about the work for Civil Rights prior to the more known stories of Rosa Park and Martin Luther King, Jr. There are vivid descriptions of traveling in the Jim Crow south, the closed doors to her race and her sex, the poverty she and her educated family endured.

Pauli's voice is direct and open. She admits to her ignorance and mistakes, her learning curves and limitations. Her accomplishments speak for her determination and courage.

It was wonderful to hear, in her own voice, Pauli's amazing life.

I received a free galley from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Pauli Murray on my quilt I Will Lift My Voice Like a Trumpet

I Will Lift My Voice Like a Trumpet by Nancy A. Bekofske

From the publisher:

Poet, memoirist, labor organizer, and Episcopal priest, Pauli Murray helped transform the law of the land. Arrested in 1940 for sitting in the whites-only section of a Virginia bus, Murray propelled that life-defining event into a Howard law degree and a fight against “Jane Crow” sexism. Her legal brilliance was pivotal to the overturning of Plessy v. Ferguson, the success of Brown v. Board of Education, and the Supreme Court’s recognition that the equal protection clause applies to women; it also connected her with such progressive leaders as Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall, Betty Friedan, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Now Murray is finally getting long-deserved recognition: the first African American woman to receive a doctorate of law at Yale, her name graces one of the university’s new colleges. Handsomely republished with a new introduction, Murray’s remarkable memoir takes its rightful place among the great civil rights autobiographies of the twentieth century.

Learn more about Murray at The Pauli Murray Project at the Duke Human Rights Center.

Song in a Weary Throat: Memoir of an American Pilgrimage
Pauli Murray, Patricia Bell-Scott (Introduction by)
Liveright/W. W. Norton
On Sale Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 9781631494581, 1631494589
Paperback $22.95

An American Quilt: The Hidden History Behind an 1830s Quilt

Rachel May, an Assistant Professor at Northern Michigan University, was shown an 1830s hexagon quilt top with backing papers that revealed a glimpse into its history. In ornate handwriting were the dates 1798 and 1813 and the words rum, casks, West Indies, shuger.

Fascinated by this quilt, May, a quiltmaker and author of Quilting with a Modern Slant, researched the quilt's heritage and historical background. It took her on a six-year journey deep into a history we have conveniently forgotten, the economic roots of New England wealth based on the slave trade and slave labor.

Family letters and genealogical research helped May create an understanding of the Crouch-Williams-Cushman family behind the quilt, raising questions about racism throughout American history.

The makers of the quilt top were Susan McPherson Sibley Williams (1813-1902), whose mother rented a room to Brown University medical student Hasell Wilkinson Crouch (1809-1836). Susan married Hasell and they moved to Hasell's native Charleston, South Carolina. The couple worked on the hexagons together. One hundred years later, Susan's grandnephew Franklin discovered the top. He created a notebook with sample fabrics, some noted as "probably for slave gowns," and transcribed the family letters.

friendship sloop schooner invest fame dear sister maintained Havana Barbados barrels seaman Carolyna Newport government incident kindness 

Hexagon pieces, mostly19th c reproduction fabrics, which I used in my Charles Dickens quilt

Susan's two brothers went South to begin their careers. One brother became committed to the Confederate cause, defending the economic advantage, and luxurious life, based on an enslaved labor force. Wasn't the North an abolitionist mecca? How could Susan not have seen the human suffering behind the "servants" who cared for her family's needs? How did a Rhode Island family, transplanted to the South, so readily adapt to the role of slave owners?

What shocked May was the realization that the North was complicit with slavery.

I remembered the song Molasses to Run to Slaves from the musical 1776 which we had seen performed live in Philadelphia during the Bicentennial. It was my first understanding of the Triangular Trade.

Who sails the ships out of Guinea
Ladened with bibles and slaves?
'Tis Boston can boast to the West Indies coast
Jamaica, we brung what ye craves
Antigua, Barbados, we brung bibles and slaves!
Molasses to rum to slaves
Who sail the ships back to Boston
Ladened with gold, see it gleam
Whose fortunes are made in the triangle trade
Hail slavery, the New England dream

With the names of the enslaved women--Minerva, Eliza, Jane, and Juba--and references in letters and historical documents, May imagines their lives. She traveled across the country to understand the world they lived in, visiting historic sites and forgotten places. It was an emotional journey, soul-wracking. Throughout the book, she mixes a deep understanding of American history with her research to construct fictionalized stories of the woman's probable lives.

In the end, May concludes that we each must decide how to live in a country built on genocide, enslavement, land theft, and racism. She urges us to consider how we participate in injustice today. What stories should we be telling? What choices should we make to not support modern businesses built on enslaved labor and modern indentured servants working in horrific conditions? How do we respond to human trafficking today?

An American Quilt is more than the story of a quilt or genealogy research on a family or even a recreation of the lives of enslaved persons. May questions the foundations of our heritage, the misconceptions we hold and challenges us to reevaluate how we today participate in supporting unjust economic systems.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

An American Quilt: Unfolding a Story of Family and Slavery
by Rachel May
Pegasus Books
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
Hardcover $27.95 USD
ISBN 9781681774176, 1681774178

Hexagon quilt, late 19th c, owned by Diane Little

The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist

He spent his later life living in a cave, a vegetarian and animal rights activist who made his own clothing and traveled by foot. Yet his estate at his death in 1759 was valued at $117,000 (in today's dollars).

He was an early convert to abolition, causing disturbances that drove his Quaker meeting house to remove him from membership.

He was a dwarf who married another Little Person, Sarah, a well-liked Quaker preacher, while he himself was reviled for his extremism.

The Fearless Benjamin Lay by Marcus Rediker resurrects the forgotten man who dared to stand up to wealth and power with the message that all creatures are God's children, and that to own a slave is to be steeped in sin.

Lay went to extremes to get his message across. Lay had been pressuring a neighbor Quaker in Abington, PA over their owning a slave girl. One day Lay encountered the couple's son and invited him to his cave. When the distraught couple found their son with Lay, he chastised them saying, "You may now conceive of the sorrows you inflict upon the parents of the negroe [sic] girl you hold in slavery, for she was torn from them by avarice."

Without a formal education, Lay wrote a book that was printed by Benjamin Franklin. It was Deborah Franklin who commissioned a portrait of Lay, a gift for her husband. It resides in the National Portrait Museum.

Lay's book printed by Benjamin Franklin

This vivid portrait of a unique personality is interesting as history, but Lay's vision transcends the years, for his concerns remain with us to this day and are more relevant than ever. As society struggles with issues of wealth trumping morality, consumerism and its impact on the environment and human health, and the continual fight against hate groups that devalue certain human lives, Lay's life stands as an example of how to live according to one's values and one's faith.

I received a free book from the publisher through LibraryThing.

Read an excerpt at http://www.marcusrediker.com/books/benjamin-lay-detail.php

The Fearless Benjamin Lay
by Marcus Rediker
ISBN: 978-080703592-4
Publication Date: 9/5/2017
Price:  $26.95

World War II Quilts

Sue Reich's extensive research on quilts made during World War II was a labor of love, inspired by her father's service. Drawing from newspaper accounts and articles she presents the history of the war and the home front as seen through the quilts of that era.

The result is a mammoth book with a whopping 335 color photographs, many quilts featured full page and in detail. Accompanying news articles, pattern sources, ephemera, advertising, and photographs illustrate war time history on the home front.

Woman were called upon to do their part in the war effort, not only in factory work but in employing their sewing and needlework skills. With manufacturing geared to war efforts families had to 'make do'; women mended and altered old clothes. Scraps were used to make quilts, which were promoted in newspapers as part of the patriotic 'waste not, want not' lifestyle. Feedsacks were printed with patterns and used for clothes and home furnishings.

Reich identifies the kinds of quilts made during the war: Patriotic quilts in red, white and blue; quilts with iconic Military themes; Red Cross and other organization related donation quilts; fund-raising quilts; and common pattern quilts made during 1920-1950.

The quilts shared in the book include an amazing array of construction: pieced, applique, embroidered, and even hand painted. Furthermore, there are quilts made of various textiles such as Sweetheart Pillows, feedsack, parachute fabric, home furnishing fabrics, pre-printed Military theme linens, and with even quilts Navy and Army Insignia badges.

Quilts presented include those made by well known quilt artists such as Bertha Stenge's OPA (Office of Price Administration) Quilt and her Four Freedom's Quilt. An embroidered Remember Pearl Harbor quilt; includes images of President Roosevelt giving a radio talk and Eleanor Roosevelt, the USS Oklahoma, female service persons, Uncle Sam, and  in the center"X+Y+X=V". Quilts commemorate President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his wife Eleanor, and even FDR's beloved Fala. The Roosevelt Rose quilt by Minnie Pearl Pardee Barrett used a 1938 applique pattern by Ruth Finley. An amazing quilt by Callie Jeffress Fanning Smith, The Eleanor Roosevelt Alum portrayed the First Lady from childhood to the White House through applique, embroidery, and hand painted faces.

The mother of Robert Howe, who was serving in the Coast Guard, made a quilt with embroidered details of  their family history and her son's service. The Bataan Death March Quilt made by Ida Johnson Beattie and a Gold Star Mother's Quilt by Callie Shaeffer with embroidered names perhaps brought solace to the grieving.

Victory quilts featuring "V" were made in applique, embroidery, and pieced blocks.

There are patriotic red, white and blue quilts including many star variations. American symbols on the quilts include the flag, eagles, stars, war related slogans, government agencies, and branches of the military. Airplane quilts in various patterns were popular.

The Music Teacher's Quilt is made of embroidered music and words to thirty American songs, from My Old Kentucky Home, Old Folks at Home and The Quilting Party to Call Out the Navy, America he Beautiful, and A Gold Star Mother's Prayer.

Honor Roll Quilts gave tribute to those called to serve during wartime. The Clinch/Locust Methodist Church created an Honor Roll Banner to represent the 155 men and women from the church who went to war.

Fundraising quilts included embroidered names. Red Cross Quilts with official labels reading "American Red Cross Chapter-Not to be sold" were sent to European victims of war. 

Reich presents an amazing history of the Changi Quilts, including details of the makers. women who were trapped in Singapore and sent to the Changi Jail internment camp. Under inhuman conditions, the women created three quilts for the British, Australian, and Japanese soldiers. Using flour sacks and bed sheets the women appliqued and embroidered personal messages and images from their life present and past.

New quilt patterns were published in newspapers and magazines, and fabrics with war related themes and in American colors were printed. One of my favorites are the Rainbow Block Company Victory quilt, beautiful designs of floral "V" blocks.

The quilting enthusiast and those interested in Women's History will find World War II Quilts a wonderful resource.

Reich has also written World War I Quilts, Quilts Presidential and Patriotic, and Quilt News of Yesteryear, all available at Schiffer Publications. 

I received a free book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

World War II Quilts 

Sue Reich

Schiffer Publications

$39.95

ISBN 13: 9780764334511

My Favorite Books of 2016: American History

One of my reading themes in 2016 concerned American history. Events from places I have lived and the times I have lived in, presidential history, Native American history, African American history, and the American Revolution continue to be interest areas I am drawn to.The books were galley ebooks, Arcs, or books provided by the publisher. All were my choices to read.

Terror in the City of Champions: Murder, Baseball and the Secret Society that Shocked Depression Era Detroit by Tom Stanton brought to life a city thrilled by its team's sport wins while The Black Legion, a hate group spawned from the KKK, pressed unsuspecting people into membership at gunpoint then sent them out to kill.

The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World's Fair by Margaret Creighton peels back the tinted postcard memories of the Pan-American Exposition to reveal the seamy side of American society a hundred years ago. 


67 Shots: Kent State and the End of American Innocence by Howard Means was a moving, important, and disturbing book, particularly for my generation.

Of Arms and Artists by Paul Staiti shows how artists of the American Revolution created a national identity.  

The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe by Elaine Showalter reveals the complicated life of the woman who penned our national anthem.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink reveals how the lack of preparation by a for-profit hospital resulted in avoidable deaths.

Just Another Southern Town: Mary Church Terrell and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Nation's Capital by Joan Quigley is the story of 90 year old Terrell's fight to end segregation in Washington D.C. in 1950. It is the inspiring story of how age has nothing to do with standing up for what is right.

The Parker Sisters: A Border Kidnapping by Lucy Maddox is a historian's study of the Fugitive Slave Law through the kidnapping of two African American teenagers.

Truevine: Two Bothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy concerns Albino African Americans enslaved by a circus and their mother's endeavor to protect them.


Massacre at Sand Creek: How Methodists Were Involved in an American Tragedy by Gary Roberts was commissioned by the United Methodist Church. Leaders in this attack on 'friendly' Native American women and children were Methodist. It is a warning of how 'good people' can be led by cultural norms to commit crimes against humanity.

The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo, The Apache Kid, and the Captive Boy Who Started the Longest War in American History by Paul Andrew Hutton is a dense and comprehensive history, another revelation of treaties broken and genocidal military leaders.

The Thunder Before the Storm: The Autobiography of Clyde Bellecourt is a raw, honest, and moving relating of his journey from juvenile delinquent to the leader of the American Indian Movement.

John Quincy Adams and the Politics of Slavery by David Waldstreicher and Matthew Mason draws from Adams diaries to trace his evolving understanding, personally and legally, of slavery, culminating in his eight year battle to end the Gag Rule that forbade the House from accepting petitions to end slavery.

Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon by Larry Tye is a fascinating biography focusing on Bobby's evolution from McCarthy staffer to Civil Rights spokesperson.

Herbert Hoover in the White House: The Ordeal of the Presidency by Charles Rappleye is a great study on how the Great Humanitarian, a successful business man, failed as president.

The Gatekeeper:Missy LeHand, FDR, and the Untold Partnership that Defined a Presidency by Kathryn Smith is the first biography of President Roosevelt's constant companion for twenty years in the office and out, the first female 'chief of staff'.

Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair that Shaped a First Lady by Susan Quinn considers the friendship, and possibly love affair, that supported the First Lady to blossom into leadership.

Valient Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick shows that our country's founding was pretty messy and the ramifications of leaders obsessed with image, personal power, and monetary success.

Washington's Spys: The Story of America's First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose is the book behind the series Turn, the real story of the Culpepper spy ring.

Love Canal: A Toxic History From Colonial Times to the Present by Richard S. Newman was another upsetting read of how industry used Niagara Falls for profit, leaving a legacy of chemical waste, Activist Lois Gibbs work helped establish the Superfund, which almost immediately was defunded. We are all affected by industrial toxic waste.

A History of New York in 101 Objects by Sam Roberts is a more lighthearted look at our past, considering the things that made New York, and America and the world, what it is today.

Dead Wake by Eric Larson is the moving tale of the Lusitania.

I hope you found something here to put on your 2017 reading list!

American Heroes Quilts: Past and Present by Don Beld

American Heroes Quilts by Don Beld is an original quilt history book that presents traditional quilt blocks with the history of the American heroes that inspired inspired them.

'Use the patterns as a quick tour through American history," the introduction advises.

We too often have a cursory knowledge of our own history. Quilt block names such as Burgoyne Surrounded may be a mystery to quilters. I know it was to me when I first saw a beautiful two color quilt in this pattern. Beld offers a brief, accessible history for these mysterious quilt block names, including pictures. Quilts made in the block are presented, usually in several variations.

I appreciated Beld's biographies of these American heroes. He does not idolize or idealize them. My study of presidents and first ladies taught me that great things can be accomplished by people with 'feet of clay'. These people represented the beliefs of their time, some of which we later came to reject or understand as ill begotten. For example, President Andrew Jackson, a popular president who instituted and a policy of relocation and genocide of Native Americans. His winning the Battle of New Orleans was pivotal. He rescued a damsel in distress and they fell in love and married. Except her first husband never completed the divorce... The newspapers had a field day that devastated Rachel.

The book's chapters are organized chronologically by American history:
1776-1825: The Beginning of the Republic, including Gen. Gates and Gen. Burgoyne; Benjamin Franklin; President George and Martha Washington; Lewis and Clark; Zebulon Pike; First Lady Dolley Madison; Isaac Hull; Mary Pickersgill and Francis Scott Key; and the Marquis De Lafayette.

1826-1875 Years of Turmoil, including President Andrew Jackson; Davy Crockett; President William Henry Harrison; President John Tyler; Henry Clay; President Millard Fillmore; President James Polk; Stephen Douglas; President Lincoln and his son Tad; Barbara Frietchie; Pierre Beauregard; Gen. 'Stonewall' Jackson; and Gen. Sherman.

1876-1925 Victorian Ladies, including Gen. Custer; President Garfield; Nellie Bly; President and Mrs. Hayes; First Lady Frances Cleveland; Jacob Coxey; President Theodore Roosevelt and Edith; Gen. Dewey and Mildred Dewey; Richmond Hobson; First Lady Helen Taft; Carrie Nation; Adm Byrd; Richard Peary; and First Ladies Edith and Ellen Wilson.

1926-200 The Modern Era, including Charles Lindbergh; President Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor; Amelia Earhart; Virginia Payne; Allen B. Dumont; President Truman; President Eisenhower; Rosa Parks; President Kennedy; President Carter; President Clinton and Hillary.

Templates for a 10" block sampler quilt are included at the end of the book.

This is a lovely book to look at with 300 color photos and 93 black and white photos. I especially enjoyed seeing the antique and vintage quilts. Quilters will enjoy the basic history lessons behind traditional quilt blocks.

I received a free book from Schiffer Publications in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

American Heroes
Don Beld
Schiffer Publications
$34.99 hard cover with slip cover
ISBN:9780764350450

Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America by David O. Stewart

I have read quite a few books on Dolley Madison but had not read a book about her husband President James Madison. So I was glad to have been accepted to read David O. Stewart's upcoming book Madison's Gift which looks at Madison's working relationships with President George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, President Thomas Jefferson, President James Monroe and his wife Dolley. Although the reader receives a basic understanding of Madison's biography it is really a 'political biography', similar to Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" which considered Lincoln and his cabinet which was made up of political rivals for the presidency.

Madison's service to his country included championing the 1787 Constitutional Convention and the Bill of Rights; the creation of the first political party in alliance with Thomas Jefferson; service as the first 'war president' during the War of 1812;  the revision of The Articles of Confederation to insure the government rested on a more solid base; fine tuning the election process; support for a national tax to fund a standing army and pay debt; working on the amendment to guarantee free speech, the right to bear arms, due process of law, the freedom of the press and other rights we take for granted today.

Madison had a systematic and deep intelligence. He was small and frail in body, but was a giant intellectually. His public persona was not easy and warm, although his good humor shone in his family life. His friendships and partnerships perfectly balanced his weaknesses. Jefferson and Monroe forged deep friendships with Madison, with Jefferson encouraging Madison to become a neighbor, while the Monroes in Europe purchased and shipped furnishings for the Madison's first home.

Dolley was a beautiful and well off young widow when Madison fell in love with her from afar. Martha Washington encouraged Dolley to consider Madison's attentions and she married the "great little Madison", who was 15 years older and considerably smaller than her. But their relationship became legendary, both as marriage and political partners.

Stewart's book covers familiar events and historical passages but in a detail that opened for me a better appreciation and understanding. Our American government did not spring full blown at its inception. It took years of considered thought and political action to hone the system we now enjoy. At the center of this continual process was James Madison. He did not work in a vacuum, but in accordance with other gifted, inspired, and dedicated men.

I was not always riveted by the book. It does take attention. But the story is an important one, and made me better appreciate the marvelous experiment called democracy.

I received this e-book through NetGalley and Simone & Schuster for a fair and unbiased review.

Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America
by David O. Stewart
Simon & Schuster
Publication Feb 10, 2015
ISBN: 9781451688580
$28.00

Independence Day

My quilt life has been put on hold for quite a few months as we packed, moved, unpacked and settled into our new home. Next week I hope to finally start to set up my quilt studio!

In 1976 we were living near Philadelphia. It was a wonderful time to be there! We spent all summer taking the train to downtown Philly, and walking from one historical sight to another. We saw the musical 1776 performed for free on Independence Mall. We wore buttons saying "Ask Me", declaring to the tourist that we knew our way around.


When several years ago I saw Bicentennial era embroidery patterns on eBay, I had to buy them. And I made my quilt, Bicentennial Memories.

The images include George Washington cutting down a cherry tree; Independence Hall, a George Washington medallion, the Liberty Bell, and  Betsy Ross sewing the flag. Thomas Jefferson was adapted from clip art. Martha Washington is a vintage Redwork pattern. The last two blocks are the American eagle and the flag of 1776. The red and white fabrics have a small cherry print on them.

In my collection is a hanky and scarf from the Bicentennial.

One of my favorite hanky designers was Tammis Keefe, and I have collected the Philadelphia souvenir handkerchiefs she designed in the 1960s. They feature famous landmarks. Here is her Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall.

Another souvenir hanky of Independence Hall:

I had always an interest in early American history, but being in Philadelphia during the Bicentennial really increased my interest. I have read such books as David McCullough's 1776, which details all the battles of that year...something I would never have considered previous to living so close to history!

Happy Birthday, America. And best wishes for many more to come.