Ryan Blocker from the Alabama Department of Archives and History discusses the traditions passed through generational quilting.
The Alabama Department of Archives and History has a collection of over 200 quilts spanning from the 18th to the 21st Century. Of particular interest are three groupings of quilts considered “Family Collections.” In one grouping, the quilts span three generations of women in the Conecuh, Evergreen, and Brewton, AL areas. Collections like these give us valuable insight into how quilting traditions are passed down through families, but the quilts take on the preferences of the person quilting them.
Ryan Blocker has been with the Alabama Department of Archives and History for the past fourteen years. She currently serves as the Museum Collections Coordinator, where she is responsible for the care and preservation of a diverse collection of artifacts. She is a past President of the Alabama Museums Association and was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Board of the Governor's Mansion Authority in Montgomery. Ryan is a graduate of Auburn University at Montgomery, where she received a B.A. in History, and the International Preservation Studies Center, where she received certification in Collections Care, focusing on Textile Conservation and Preservation.
This event is presented as part of our Heritage Days programming with Cahaba Homestead Heritage Foundation. Check our events calendar for a full listing of events the week of April 15th!
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Trussville Public Library sits in the heart of the Cahaba Project, and remains a vital part of this community and of the Jefferson County cooperative library system – Public Libraries in Jefferson County (PLJC). We offer books, audio books, DVDs, BluRays and Playaways. For more information, call us at 205-655-2022.