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Kilt Resurfaces in Long-Old Detroit Neighborhood Stories : NPR

A signature quilt hanging in a museum display. The pattern is his arrangement of 20 of his X-shaped blocks on a blue and white fabric. Each has a name, phone number and address embroidered in red and blue thread.

Sophia Saliby


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Sophia Saliby


A signature quilt hanging in a museum display. The pattern is his arrangement of 20 of his X-shaped blocks on a blue and white fabric. Each has a name, phone number and address embroidered in red and blue thread.

Sophia Saliby

Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood flourished as a center of African-American life and culture in the early 1920s.th century, until highway construction and government-mandated redevelopment nearly wiped it out.

Today, a recently discovered quilt offers a glimpse into life more than 50 years ago.

Marsha MacDowell felt compelled to bring it back to Michigan the moment she saw it in a 2018 online sale.

Quilted with blue and white fabric, this design contains 20 X-shaped blocks. Embroidered with names, addresses and phone numbers such as Sister Roberta Wilson and Mrs. Molly Mason.

As someone who grew up in Detroit, the Curator of Folk Art and Quilt Studies at the Michigan State University Museum recognized the street name.

“This is where all the homes were demolished in the 1960s urban renewal,” says MacDowell. “When I look at Google Maps, it’s all vacant lots.”

One of the few buildings still standing is Christ’s Zion Congregational Church of God on Mack Avenue. Built nearly 100 years ago, the church is located near what was once Detroit’s Black He Bottom neighborhood. Growing out of African American immigrants from the South, the community included dozens of black-owned businesses and a renowned music and nightclub scene.

In 2021, McDowell decided to post a photo of the quilt on the church’s Facebook page.

“I know this person. This is my mother. This is my aunt. This is someone I knew from the Zion church.”

Someone saw the post and reached out to Reacter Quinn to share the news. They recognized the name of her mother, Adele Anderson, on the quilt.

Marsha McDowell says the blankets are known as “signature” or “signature” quilts because women in this group carved their names on them. I embroidered my name and address in Detroit, State.

Sophia Saliby


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Sophia Saliby

“The most exciting thing for me was finding out that the artifact my mother was a part of still exists,” said Quinn.

Quinn, now in her 90s, remembers her mother joining a sewing circle with other women from her church. She is certain the quilt was made for her fundraiser in the 1940s.

“She found her niche when the sewing circle started. She was always making something and letting us embroider,” she said.

In April 2022, a year after that original post, McDowell worked with church leaders to bring people like Quinn together to think about their close-knit community.

Quinn called it a reunion of sorts. They remembered the sewing circle, the women who ran it, and that church life wasn’t just for the church. For example, when she and her friend got older and sneaked through the service to stop at the local candy store.

McDowell says quilts are more than just blankets and folk art.It’s a piece of history.

“This quilt is a textual document of a prosperous relationship between a prosperous region and the people whose names are engraved on the quilt,” McDowell said.

Marsha Music is now a member of the Congregation. She says it’s important that the women in the church wrote their names on the quilts.

“There’s a part of them that wants you to know that ‘we made this,’ and it’s stood the test of time,” Music said.

McDowell continues to delve into the origins of the quilt and its creators, and hopes to use recently released census data to find out more.

Summarize this content to 100 words

A signature quilt hanging in a museum display. The pattern is his arrangement of 20 of his X-shaped blocks on a blue and white fabric. Each has a name, phone number and address embroidered in red and blue thread.

Sophia Saliby

hide caption

toggle caption

Sophia Saliby

A signature quilt hanging in a museum display. The pattern is his arrangement of 20 of his X-shaped blocks on a blue and white fabric. Each has a name, phone number and address embroidered in red and blue thread.

Sophia Saliby

Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood flourished as a center of African-American life and culture in the early 1920s.th century, until highway construction and government-mandated redevelopment nearly wiped it out. Today, a recently discovered quilt offers a glimpse into life more than 50 years ago. Marsha MacDowell felt compelled to bring it back to Michigan the moment she saw it in a 2018 online sale. Quilted with blue and white fabric, this design contains 20 X-shaped blocks. Embroidered with names, addresses and phone numbers such as Sister Roberta Wilson and Mrs. Molly Mason. As someone who grew up in Detroit, the Curator of Folk Art and Quilt Studies at the Michigan State University Museum recognized the street name. “This is where all the homes were demolished in the 1960s urban renewal,” says MacDowell. “When I look at Google Maps, it’s all vacant lots.” One of the few buildings still standing is Christ’s Zion Congregational Church of God on Mack Avenue. Built nearly 100 years ago, the church is located near what was once Detroit’s Black He Bottom neighborhood. Growing out of African American immigrants from the South, the community included dozens of black-owned businesses and a renowned music and nightclub scene.

In 2021, McDowell decided to post a photo of the quilt on the church’s Facebook page. “I know this person. This is my mother. This is my aunt. This is someone I knew from the Zion church.” Someone saw the post and reached out to Reacter Quinn to share the news. They recognized the name of her mother, Adele Anderson, on the quilt.

Marsha McDowell says the blankets are known as “signature” or “signature” quilts because women in this group carved their names on them. I embroidered my name and address in Detroit, State.

Sophia Saliby

hide caption

toggle caption

Sophia Saliby

“The most exciting thing for me was finding out that the artifact my mother was a part of still exists,” said Quinn. Quinn, now in her 90s, remembers her mother joining a sewing circle with other women from her church. She is certain the quilt was made for her fundraiser in the 1940s. “She found her niche when the sewing circle started. She was always making something and letting us embroider,” she said. In April 2022, a year after that original post, McDowell worked with church leaders to bring people like Quinn together to think about their close-knit community. Quinn called it a reunion of sorts. They remembered the sewing circle, the women who ran it, and that church life wasn’t just for the church. For example, when she and her friend got older and sneaked through the service to stop at the local candy store.

McDowell says quilts are more than just blankets and folk art.It’s a piece of history. “This quilt is a textual document of a prosperous relationship between a prosperous region and the people whose names are engraved on the quilt,” McDowell said. Marsha Music is now a member of the Congregation. She says it’s important that the women in the church wrote their names on the quilts. “There’s a part of them that wants you to know that ‘we made this,’ and it’s stood the test of time,” Music said. McDowell continues to delve into the origins of the quilt and its creators, and hopes to use recently released census data to find out more.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/28/1164967144/recently-found-quilt-tells-the-story-of-a-long-gone-historic-detroit-neighborhoo Kilt Resurfaces in Long-Old Detroit Neighborhood Stories : NPR

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