DOC Christmas Greetings from the Presidents by Various Authors in History

Description

Following the trail left by an unfinished quilt; this illuminating saga examines slavery from the cotton fields of the South to the textile mills of New England―and the humanity behind it. When we think of slavery; most of us think of the American South. We think of back-breaking fieldwork on plantations. We don’t think of slavery in the North; nor do we think of the grueling labor of urban and domestic slaves. Rachel May’s rich new book explores the far reach of slavery; from New England to the Caribbean; the role it played in the growth of mercantile America; and the bonds between the agrarian south and the industrial north in the antebellum era―all through the discovery of a remarkable quilt.While studying objects in a textile collection; May opened a veritable treasure-trove: a carefully folded; unfinished quilt made of 1830s-era fabrics; its backing containing fragile; aged papers with the dates 1798; 1808; and 1813; the words “shuger;” “rum;” “casks;” and “West Indies;” repeated over and over; along with “friendship;” “kindness;” “government;” and “incident.” The quilt top sent her on a journey to piece together the story of Minerva; Eliza; Jane; and Juba―the enslaved women behind the quilt―and their owner; Susan Crouch.May brilliantly stitches together the often-silenced legacy of slavery by revealing the lives of these urban enslaved women and their world. Beautifully written and richly imagined; An American Quilt is a luminous historical examination and an appreciation of a craft that provides such a tactile connection to the past. BW illustrations throughout