How a Group of Women in This Small Alabama Town Perfected the Art of Quilting | Op-Docs

Summary

In a small town in Alabama called Gee's Bend, a group of women have mastered the age-old art of quilting. Taught by their mothers and grandmothers, quilting serves as a communal activity, a source of personal expression, and a means to preserve their heritage and life experiences. Quilting here isn't just an art form—it's a way to connect with the past, their community, and themselves. Despite facing historical and personal challenges, these women have managed to turn their craft into something that reflects their struggles, love, and spirit, with some of their quilts finding a place in museums worldwide, symbolizing their stories and cultural heritage.

Highlights

• Discover the vibrant community of quilters in Gee's Bend, Alabama, who have been stitching stories for generations. 🧶
• Capture the essence of rural life and shared experiences through quilts made from old clothes and found materials. 🌿
• Marvel at how these handmade quilts have earned a place in prestigious museums, celebrating artistry and history. 🖼️

Key Takeaways

• Quilting in Gee's Bend, Alabama, is a community tradition passed down through generations and serves as a means of expression and storytelling. 🧵
• Women in Gee's Bend use quilting to connect with their past and each other, creating quilts that reflect their personal lives and struggles. 🇺🇸
• The craft of quilting in this community is recognized internationally, showcasing the artistry and cultural significance of these women's work. 🌎

Overview

In the small rural community of Gee's Bend, Alabama, a group of extraordinary women are keeping an incredible tradition alive. Through quilting, they quilt more than just fabric—they stitch together stories of resilience, creativity, and community bonding. The art of quilting is not merely about crafting a quilt; it's an expression of love and shared history passed down from generation to generation, a thread connecting them to their ancestors.

These quilts are far from ordinary; each piece is crafted by hand, infused with materials ranging from old clothes to found scraps, and each tells a unique tale. As they hum their traditional songs and reflect on their lives, the women of Gee's Bend find solace and joy in quilting—a task viewed as both an occupation and meditative practice. It serves as a reminder of companionship and familial love all while allowing them to express their individuality and inner thoughts.

Such dedication has not only sustained their spirits but has also earned international recognition. Quilts from Gee's Bend have adorned museum walls, a testament to the craft's undeniable beauty and cultural impact. As these women continue quilting, they leave a legacy of strength and creativity that speaks volumes, ensuring their stories live on long after they're gone.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Early Life Reflections The chapter titled 'Introduction and Early Life Reflections' introduces the reader to an introspective view on nature, specifically focusing on trees and their varied shades of green. The narrator invites the reader to observe the subtle differences in color and movement of the trees' leaves, describing their shimmering quality as 'silver' due to the way they wave in the wind. This serves as a metaphor for reflection and observation, setting the tone for the chapter by encouraging a deeper appreciation for the natural world.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Singing and Nighttime Inspirations The chapter 'Singing and Nighttime Inspirations' revolves around the singer expressing their desire to not be praised posthumously, emphasizing the importance of genuine appreciation during life. The narrative connects to nighttime inspirations as the singer describes their habit of keeping a pencil and paper by the bed to capture ideas that come to them in dreams. Singing is intertwined throughout, with refrains about not seeking praise after they're gone, suggesting a theme of humility and cherishing life's moments.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Purpose and Family Quilting Traditions This chapter explores the role of quilting in maintaining family traditions and its purpose in providing mental occupation. It highlights quilting as a legacy for children and hints at its meditative and spiritual significance, as implied by the inclusion of singing related to life, creation, and divine help.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Embracing Farming and Community Spirit The chapter discusses the narrator's evolving relationship with their home and farming life. Initially, there was a desire to leave, but over time, an affection for the place developed. Despite challenges, particularly with farming tasks like picking cotton, the narrator embraced this life out of necessity to make a living, highlighting themes of acceptance and community spirit.
• 02:30 - 04:30: Family and Community in Gee’s Bend, Alabama The chapter explores the themes of family and community in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. It highlights the cooperative spirit among families, as they support one another in farming activities. The narrative includes a personal anecdote of starting to cook at the age of 6, illustrating early responsibilities and communal lifestyle.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Learning Quilting and Childhood Memories In a rural community of Gee's Bend, Alabama, the narrator recalls childhood memories where, despite being the only daughter, her mother ensured all her children, including her brothers, learned how to cook. Her mother believed in self-sufficiency, humorously suggesting they might not marry and should at least know how to cook.
• 05:30 - 07:00: Emotional Connections to Quilting The chapter titled 'Emotional Connections to Quilting' introduces the rural lifestyle where close-knit communities thrive. The narrative starts with an anecdote about Zeus, presumably a goat, illustrating the pastoral setting with bleating goats in the background. It underscores the challenge of living far from shopping centers, but highlights the benefits of residing in a community where everyone knows each other well. The chapter features individuals like Essie Pettway, also known as Toot, China Pettway, and Mary Lee Bendolph, presumably discussing their personal connections and experiences related to quilting.
• 07:00 - 09:30: Empowerment through Quilting and Civil Rights The chapter begins with the introduction of the narrator's identity as Rita Mae, known as Rabbit to many. It highlights the close-knit nature of her community, where everyone is interconnected in some way, underscoring the theme of kinship. The narrator shares a personal history marked by early loss with her mother's death when she was only four, leading to her grandparents taking on a reluctant role in raising her. This sets the stage for exploring themes of family and belonging.
• 09:30 - 10:30: Recognition of Quilts as Art The narrator shares a personal anecdote about being nicknamed Rabbit due to their speed. They reflect on learning quilting from their grandmother, noting that quilting has been a positive and meaningful activity in their life. They make a reference to the 'housetop' style in quilting.
• 10:30 - 14:00: Love, Peace, and Legacy Through Quilts The narrator reflects on their strong connection to their hometown, having briefly ventured to New York but ultimately returning and remaining in their original community. This chapter highlights the narrator's cherished memories of familial and communal bonding, particularly through the tradition of quilting. The narrator fondly recalls joining their mother, grandmother, and neighbors during quilting sessions, symbolizing love, peace, and the passing of legacy through this timeless craft.

How a Group of Women in This Small Alabama Town Perfected the Art of Quilting | Op-Docs Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Have you have ever paid trees any attention? Some of them are light green, dark green, greener green, yellowish green. Have you ever paid how the leaves are blowing? They have a glimmer in it. And I called it silver because it be wavy.
• 00:30 - 01:00 (SINGING) I don’t want nobody to praise me when I’m gone. Mm. Then some time at night, when I’m laying down in the bed, I’m dreaming about something. And I have my pencil and my paper beside the bed. And I just sketch that out on paper. (SINGING) Lord, I don’t want nobody to praise me when
• 01:00 - 01:30 I’m gone. Whoa. It’s just something to keep your mind occupied. That’s all. And then you quilt for your children. (SINGING) — whiles I yet live. (SINGING) If you want to put it on — Make me a quilt. (SINGING) Lord, to help me.
• 01:30 - 02:00 Yes, if I — At first I wanted to leave home. But then when I got older, I began to like it a little more. And then I began to fall in love with it. The biggest of my challenges was farming. I picked cotton. I didn’t like it, not at all. But it was life. We had to do what we had to do to make a living.
• 02:00 - 02:30 When my parents finished their farm then we go over and helped our neighbor get their farm. We just worked together. [humming] I started cooking at age of 6. Would you believe that?
• 02:30 - 03:00 I was the only girl, but my mom gave all of my brothers a chore in the kitchen. She made them learn how to cook because she told them you might not get a wife and at least you’ll know how to cook. [laughter] Don’t that make perfectly good sense? Gee’s Bend, Alabama, is a rural community.
• 03:00 - 03:30 How’d Zeus manage to get over there? [goats bleating] I opened the gate. You have to go 50 miles to shop. But to live in a community where everybody knows everybody, that’s a good thing. [goats bleating] I am Essie Pettway. Everybody call me Toot. China Pettway. My name is Mary Lee Bendolph.
• 03:30 - 04:00 My real name is Rita Mae, but most people call me Rabbit. If one not related to the other one, they’re related to the other one. And we all know one another. We are kin people. My mamma died when I was 4. And my grandparents, they didn’t want to raise me. My granddaddy said when I started walking,
• 04:00 - 04:30 I just jumped up and went a-running. And so that’s why they called me Rabbit, because I was so fast. My grandmother taught me how to quilt. It’s keep me occupied from doing other things that I might not need to be doing. Sew it like that. That’s what you call the housetop.
• 04:30 - 05:00 I was born and raised here. I went to New York and stayed for two weeks, but I came back. Mhm. And I’ve been here ever since. I remember when my mom and my grandmom and their neighbors used to come by to quilt together. And I used to just sit there and look up under the quilt
• 05:00 - 05:30 and wonder how they was going up and down, up and down with that needle. They wasn’t even sticking their fingers, but — I said, I’d have stuck my finger to death. But it was real exciting to see that as a child. And I say when I get older, I’m going make me lots of quilts so I can have them to keep my kids warm. [humming]
• 05:30 - 06:00 They would teach us when we was under the quilt listening to them, praying and talking to God about their children, how they wanted them to grow up and be mens and womens. (SINGING) Lord, have mercy.
• 06:00 - 06:30 To love their children and to teach them the value of life. (SINGING) Lord, have mercy. They understood what it was about family. (SINGING) Save my soul. You could feel the love.
• 06:30 - 07:00 Sometimes you’re walking along the highway, you see a little piece of material. You pick it up and run home and give it to my mamma. And she put it in a quilt.
• 07:00 - 07:30 Somehow are our old blue jeans. And I just took them and cut them up and made this, turn it into a quilt. Look at what your mamma made me. That’s the way you do it.
• 07:30 - 08:00 I do all my sewing by hand and so — I have a sewing machine, but I don’t — I use it when I have to use. And then go to stitching it.
• 08:00 - 08:30 When I’m doing my quilt, my mind is totally into it, and I don’t have to be perfect. It give you a piece of mind. You can take time out and talk to God and say thank you. (SINGING) Father, I stray.
• 08:30 - 09:00 My hand to thee. O.K. There we go. There we go. I get to make the decision of whether I want to put this in there or take it out.
• 09:00 - 09:30 And if nobody else like it, so what? It going on my bed because it’s mine. (SINGING) Swing low, sweet old chariot, coming to carry me home. Swing low, sweet old chariot, coming to carry me home.
• 09:30 - 10:00 I looked over Jordan; then what did I see — whoa — coming to carry me home? When we were young, we worked a whole lot.
• 10:00 - 10:30 Sure. I worked at school at the lunchroom. But the rest of the people were working in fields and picking cotton and stuff like that. We was living on a white man’s place at that time. We didn’t want to live in the same old rut. We wanted to move. I did. Don’t know what everybody else wanted to do, but I wanted to do better things. When I went to march in the civil rights movement,
• 10:30 - 11:00 I didn’t know the police and everything was there, taking people to jail, beating them, and all that kind of stuff. I didn’t know. But I really wanted to become a registered voter. You know, when you become a voter, you could do something. It’s O.K. now, but not like it should be.
• 11:00 - 11:30 I was always held back because of where I came from, who my mother were, who my father were. But I realized I am somebody. I can do anything that I put my mind to doing. It make me feel great. I never thought quilts would be in no museum, no way.
• 11:30 - 12:00 That’s mine, that picture right there. Mhm. That’s the first year I started. There’s my quilt there. There’s a quilt there. And this is Essie, her quilt. It just was a joy to see. It’s just like something just burst open because I never
• 12:00 - 12:30 thought that a quilt would be an artwork, people would think that was beautiful, that something we’d done could be shown all over the world and people get joy out of it. Oh, girl, I just loved it. You can look at a quilt. It can give you a feeling of something. You know, it gives you love. You can see love. You can see peace.
• 12:30 - 13:00 You can see joy in different quilts. I just loved to see my beautiful quilt hanging up there. And I don’t know what happened to them, but — (SINGING) Oh, please. Oh, please.
• 13:00 - 13:30 He asked me, was it all right for him to sell my quilt? I tell him, yeah, because you sent me some money, but he ain’t told me nothing else since then (SINGING) Oh, please. Oh, please.
• 13:30 - 14:00 We’re going leave this all behind one day. It’s not ours in the beginning. We just only borrowing it for the time we are here (SINGING) Oh, thank God. Oh, thank God.