Quilting - Piecing Together a Nation

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Quilting - Piecing Together a Nation

• Patty Gilbert
• Presentation developed as part of the Adventure
  of the American Mind project funded through the
  Library of Congress.

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Unit Goals

• To identify aspects of everyday life in a pioneer
  home during the late 1800s
• To bring the American Memory Collection into the
  class room
• To introduce high school sophomores to aspects of
  US History
• To encourage the use of technology in all areas
  of learning

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Westward, Ho!

• Homestead Act of 1862
• Offered anyone who met the requirements 160 acres
  of land!!
• Gave people hope of owning a home and land,
  riches and a better way of life for their families

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Life on the Prairie

• Pioneers basic necessities did not come without
  a struggle
• Water had to be hauled in buckets or collected in
  a cistern when it rained
• Well-digging dangerous and difficult
• Tough prairie sod difficult and backbreaking to
  plow

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Prairie Home Life

• Women had to make many articles that the family
  needed clothing, soap, candles and preserved
  food
• Quilts for warmth were made by and from scraps
  and bits of worn clothing

Family in front of cabin
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New Technology Improved Lives

• In 1870s new inventions made life easier
• Plows to plow several rows at once
• Harrows to break up group before planting
• 1875 Steam powered threshers
• 1890s cornhuskers cornbinders

Diagram of Telegraph
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Era of Tremendous Growth in NewInventions

• 1860 1890 500,000 Patents Issued
• Typewriters
• Sewing machines
• Phonographs

The Singer Sewing Machine
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Leaving Home Behind

• One of the most difficult hardships was leaving
  behind family and loved ones
• No assurance they would ever see them again
• New communication advances diminished fears of
  isolation

Local Post Office
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Transcontinental Railway May 10, 1869

• Connected coast to coast
• Reduced costs of shipped goods
• Trains still noisy, uncomfortable and unsafe for
  travelers

TRAIN DEPOT
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Train Schedules

• No standard time caused much confusion
• Each town set time according to the sun
• Difficult to schedule trains
• Four new time zones for nation to aid scheduling

Time Schedule
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Power Stations

• In 1890 new power stations provided electricity
  for lighting, fans, printing presses and many
  other newly invented appliances

Street Lights
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Quilting, a Way of Life

• Techniques passed down from mother to daughter
• Quilting was a form of recreation and necessity
• Quilting Bees were social events for the women
• Men had to do for themselves while the women were
  at the Quilting Bee
• Quilts were judged at the local fairs

Quilting Bees
State Fair
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Quilts Were Functional and Beautiful

• Quilts were used for warmth and comfort
• Quilts were used to decorate the homes

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A Final Word

• Original photos, graphics, and documents come
  from the American Memory Collection of the
  Library of Congress
• Prepared as a part of the Adventures of the
  American Mind Project through the Library of
  Congress at Furman University, Greenville, South
  Carolina