Jubilee: The Emergence of African-American Culture – the Book
The quilt block images on the cover of this book, Jubilee, are derived from a highly-valued, African-American made quilt that is now owned by the Slave Relics Museum. The Slave Relics Museum is located at 208 Carn St., Walterboro, SC 29488; telephone:
(843) 549-9130.
An African-American made quilt, formerly owned by Mr. Polk who died in 1864, was appraised by Nancy Druckman on the Antiques Roadshow program. This quilt is believed to date from 1825-1830. An estate inventory lists Polk’s slaves, as well as his household goods. Druckman set an appraisal value for the quilt at between $40,000 and $60,000, at the time she viewed it.
The remarkable book that presents some of the quilt blocks on its cover is titled, Jubilee: The Emergence of African-American Culture – The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: The New York Public Library. This hard-cover volume was published by National Geographic, Washington, D.C. and is the result of work done by Howard Dodson with Amiri Baraka, Gail Buckley, John Hope Franklin, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Annette Gordon-Reed, and Gayraud S. Wilmore.
With 224 pages, the book follows through on its promise to chronicle “the true nature and impact of 300 years of slavery in America.” Quilters will be pleased to see Harriet Powers’ quilt included, as well as an image that depicts a slave in chains, the same one that appears on a number of 19th century quilts. The book’s ISBN number is 0-7922-6982-9 (hc)
Right now, in my home state, Dr. David Watters, an English professor at the University of New Hampshire, who has a strong interest in history, is attempting to spearhead a legislative action that would place a tribute memorial to all the former slaves in New Hampshire, as well as to document all of them. See the Concord Monitor article that describes Watters’ efforts.
They say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” In this case, “they” are wrong. This is a quality book, through and through, from its high level of scholarship to its fabulous photos. One feature I love about this book is that when the dust cover is removed, the outlines of all the quilt blocks appear, in Black on a lighter Black background.
Anyone who hopes to better understand African-American Culture should have a copy of this book in his or her own library. Don’t let this one get away!
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
