Old North Speaker Series: Quilts for the Cause

Old North Speaker Series 
Quilts for the Cause: Community Actions 
Speaker: Pamela Weeks 
Presented in partnership with the New England Quilt Museum 

“Quilts for the Cause” include those used to promote social issues such as anti-slavery or prohibition, and for charitable or patriotic purposes, which include quilts made in time of war. Pamela Weeks, Curator of the New England Quilt Museum, will discuss quilts made for some of these issues with a concentration on the communities of women who helped the Northern cause in the American Civil War. She will outline the origins of the U. S. Sanitary Commission at the beginning of the War; detail the roles women played on the home front, and the battlefield; and feature the stories of some Civil War soldiers’ quilts. 

Afterwards, join us for a reception and Community Conversation with Pam and Sue Bleiweiss of Threads of Resistance for an intimate discussion on the parallels between the subversive and communal nature of quilting in the 19th century and quilting today. Our newest exhibition in Patriots Corner, Piece-ful Voices, will be on view in March in honor of Women’s History Month. 

Pamela Weeks is the Binney Family Curator of the New England Quilt Museum and works with quilters, collectors, institutions, and co-conspirators to plan exhibits and conduct research on the quilts in the museum's collection. Two of her research projects have been published in Uncoverings, the peer review publication of the American Quilt Study Group. Her first book was published in 2011 on Civil War quilts made for soldiers, and two more are on the way.