Columbia Gorge Museum exhibit documents more than 150 years of Black family history through quilts

An exhibit at the Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson, Washington, features a collection of quilts made by an enslaved woman and her family, carefully preserved for more than 150 years. The exhibit, titled “Ms. Molly’s Voice: Freedom and Family Spoken in Fabric,” runs through July 31. It’s one of the first times the quilts have been publicly displayed, and one of the first new exhibits the museum has put on in many years.

Jim Tharpe is the caretaker of the quilts, and Louise Palermo is the museum’s executive director. They join us to talk about the significance of this collection and the family history it represents.

This transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.

Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. For more than 170 years, the quilts made by an enslaved woman in Tennessee have been carefully preserved and passed down by members of her family. Jim Tharpe is a caretaker of these quilts now. He’s a great, great grandson of the woman he calls Ms. Molly. For the first time, this entire family collection is on display for the public to see. They’re at the Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson, Washington in an exhibit titled, “Ms. Molly’s Voice: Freedom and Family Spoken in Fabric.” It runs through July 31. Jim Tharpe joins us now, along with Louise Palermo. She is the museum’s executive director. Welcome to you both.

Jim Tharpe: Yeah, good morning.

Louise Palermo: Good morning.

Miller: Jim, first. What are your first memories of these quilts?

Tharpe: Well, actually, the first time that I really became acquainted with the quilts was only in 1990 when my mother had decided that I would receive the quilts. The quilts were always, shall we say, with one of the caretakers. And it was seldom spoken about what the quilts represented at the time to me. And it wasn’t until 1990 when my mother gave me my first quilt and told me the entire story.

Miller: And what was the story that you heard then?

Tharpe: Well, the story started out with giving me what is now known as the Lincoln Hope Quilt for America. My family called that particular pattern the Hope Quilt. Now, over the years, we lost the name of the quilt. The Lincoln American Hope Quilt was dropped to Hope Quilt for our family.

It was told to me by my mother that my grandmother, when she moved to Chicago after having a divorce, brought one quilt with her. And that was the Hope Quilt, the Lincoln Hope Quilt. And my mother went on to tell the story that when my grandmother was getting into divorce, she gave all the quilts but one, which was the Hope Quilt, to her oldest daughter in Tennessee. And then she brought the Hope Quilt in lieu of a new life as her great grandmother had done for her.

Miller: I feel like we should go even further back in time. What can you tell us about your enslaved ancestor, your great, great grandmother, a woman who, as I noted, you call as an honorific – Ms. Molly?

Tharpe: Well, to begin with, my great, great grandmother was born in Kentucky. When she was 13-years old, she was sold to a family called the Banks. They lived in Woodlock, Tennessee. She was just 13-years old. And I guess that’s when the whole story of saving the quilts began because she was raped at that age by the son of the Banks. And what she had done was to say, I’m going to save this quilt.

It wasn’t until another 10 to 11 years had passed, when slavery had ended, that she saved her second quilt, which was called Hope Quilt, known publicly as the Lincoln Hope Quilt for America.

Miller: Can you describe the first quilt that you’re aware of that she made?

Tharpe: Yes. The very first quilt she made and saved was the original quilt when she was 13-years old. And there are blood stains on it and you could tell she was whipped. And from that point forward, she saved that quilt for her family to understand the challenges that she was going through. Again, she didn’t save another quilt until the Civil War was over in 1866 and Blacks were being freed across the nation during that Juneteenth period.

Miller: So part of the story that was passed down, generation to generation, was the reason why these were saved in the first place. Part of it, as you’ve learned, is to tell the story of that trauma.

Tharpe: Absolutely. The second quilt she said was just as important. That’s the Lincoln Hope Quilt. And the reason why that’s important, I guess to anyone who would look at it and especially to Ms. Molly’s family … When I look at that quilt, I look at the letter my mother sent me back in the nineties and it basically said that this particular quilt, the Hope Quilt, was made up of her family and friends. So when you hear that, you think about your own family and friends. But until I start to really look at the dates and times, the family and friends that my grandmother spoke about were the people that she was enslaved with. Because as you know, in 1866 they were just starting to develop a family. So she incorporated everybody that was with her during that time. Her friends and family made pieces from their clothing and made a quilt.

So when I look at this quilt today, I understand it’s the Hope Quilt of America, but I also understand it’s made up of all my family during that period of time and other slaves, which is heart wrenching.

Miller: Lou Palermo, how did you first hear about these quilts?

Palermo: I was having lunch [laughs] at a restaurant, and a friend of Jim’s overheard that I was working at a museum and came to me and said, “Look, I have a friend who has a really important collection and he wants them preserved as a group and needs a museum to do that. Can you help?” It wasn’t my job at that particular museum, but I did meet with Jim and saw the first quilt that Jim was referencing, the quilt that Molly made when she was 13 and first was sold to the family in Tennessee. And I knew how beautiful it was. I knew how meaningful it was.

So I have kept in touch with Jim. That was five years ago. And when I became the executive director of this museum, I knew it was a really important story to tell. I also understood how important quilting was as a language in America. And so I asked Jim if he would allow us the honor of showing the collection in our museum.

Miller: What do you mean when you say you understood how important quilting was as a language in America?

Palermo: Well, today it’s really exciting how quilting is not just about keeping warm, it’s about family stories. People are making quilts that are strictly an art form. I feel, in many ways, Molly did that well, because her skill at age 13 is absolutely remarkable and not to be missed – her hand work and the curves that she sewed in. And the fact that she left them intact with a bit of a story of her life in there.

But later on, she acquired the language of the Underground Railroad which she handed down from generation to generation. And in the quilts that we have on exhibit, you can see the language that she’s passing on from generation to generation about hope and freedom, and how to achieve your own bounty and success, all the way to the graduation quilt that was given to Jim in 1966 that Jim’s grandmother made. And Jim’s grandmother was the last link to Ms. Molly because she learned how to quilt from Ms. Molly. And unfortunately, Molly died when she was nine-years old.

So the language that happens from generation to generation moved from freedom of self, to freedom and wishes for a better life.

Miller: There is this theory that there was symbolism built into Underground Railroad era quilts that were basically secret messages. Can you describe how these might have been understood and used?

Palermo: Well, first of all, there’s all kinds of theories swirling and there are people who would like to dispute it because there’s no “substantive fact” about it. But it’s an oral tradition and the reality of it is history museums are filled with oral traditions that have a physical thing to back that story up. And I will say there is more than enough detail written to back that story up. Not only that, but Molly passed that tradition down through her family orally. And we have evidence of it because it’s in every generation of quilts.

The language existed. For example, a group of triangles that look like geese in flight is a message of migration, and it’s visually easy to read, and it’s easy to understand and it is something Molly actually handed down. So that language is in almost every quilt.

And it’s a little bit of magic when you see the graduation quilt that was presented to Mr. Tharpe when he graduated from high school that has green for safety. And it has little stars because that’s what you would follow to get to freedom. It has Route 66 maps. It has golden material which was a wish for bounty. So it’s a language of what the family wished for him as he was growing up. And that language came from Ms. Molly.

Miller: Jim, it’s one thing to be the caretaker – and clearly, you’ve been a very able caretaker of these quilts that go back more than 150 years. It’s another to be the recipient yourself of your own quilt that is, as we’ve just heard from Lou, directly tied to in the language and the craft from one maker to another. But this was made for you. What does it mean to you to have your own quilt?

Tharpe: Well, there are two things to it. The fact that there are messages sent in the quilts … and most of the messages that I’m starting to recognize are symbols. They aren’t words, shall we say as, as a spoken language. But they are symbols of other items that will relate to what’s going to happen in the future. For example, she was talking about the geese in my particular quilt. The geese represented being able to go around the world, the stars in that same quilt method, you fly with the stars, be with the geese in the stars. And then it showed a road map on how to get around and be successful.

When you look at it, there’s three or four different symbols, but then once you understand the purpose of the quote, it comes to reality as to the purpose. That’s how those quilts were made. I have other quilts, which many would say, “oh, they ran out of material” and it had a green patch to it. Well, we are now finding out that that green patch, based on the quilt that I received from my grandmother, actually means safety. So if in fact you had a quilt in the South during the 1800s and people were going to take to get on the Underground Railroad, you would find, shall we say, a store that might have a quilt outside of the store. And it would have this symbol of green, which when the slave was walking down the street would see it and realize that this person, based on the color and the type of quilt, understood the Underground Railroad. And number two, the green represented safety and that they could go there, and be safe, and have something to eat, and go and follow up to the next spot where the Underground Railroad would be leaving.

Those are the kind of symbols that I’m looking for now in all of my quilts. My grandmother made 10 quilts, 10 underground railroad quilts – purposely. She needed to tell her children, this is what we use to escape. In the event that slavery continues, you should use these quotes, and understand how to use them and send a message.

Miller: But I’m still curious what it means to you to have one of these quilts, with all of these ancestral messages, made specifically for you?

Tharpe: Well, first of all, it’s unbelievable. It’s hard to digest all the things that my family wants to present to me 150 years later. The fact that there was a message that was passed down that my mother gave me, wrote it down, saying this is the intent of these quotes to understand your family. It’s heartwarming and every day that I get up, I look for a way to save these quotes, to find a way to go … and to not just Black people but to all people of America and say “this is what my people achieved. This item is real and it was passed down for one purpose for you to understand what my people went through.” So yes, it’s something that I cherish and I carry with me daily.

Miller: Lou, what has community reception been like? I assume that curators and museum staff, after you create an exhibit, sometimes you sort of – secretly or not – just watch people taking in the art. What do you notice?

Palermo: It’s been remarkable. I have watched women quilters – we’ve been getting a large number of quilters come – and their first reaction is to be amazed by the quality of the work, the artistry that has gone in every quilt. But I’ve watched people with tears in their eyes when they read the story. And once they’re aware of the story, and they go through and take a look at the symbolism, the impact of what that means has been visual. I watch people react to it and it’s been wonderful.

Miller: Jim, as much as anything, this is a story about passing things on, passing knowledge on, passing stories on and passing actual physical beautifully-created objects on. You are the current family caretaker. Where do you want these to end up? What’s next? Who’s next?

Palermo: Well, what I want to happen is to make sure that these quilts can be shown to as many people as possible. Number two, I want to be around. I want to be able to speak to as many people as possible about the quilts in my family. I’m 76 years old now and I’m looking for every way possible to get this message out. I need the support of people around this country to want to have the same desire that I have as to show what enslaved people could do and did do. There’s no way that I can continue keeping the quilts. And I need a museum to take care of them for their lifetime and hopefully that will happen.

Miller: “Ms. Molly’s Voice: Freedom and Family Spoken in Fabric” is on display right now at the Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson, Washington. It’s on display through July 31. It features more than a dozen quilts made by Jim Tharpe’s family, starting with his great, great grandmother, a woman he calls Ms. Molly. Jim Tharpe, thanks very much.

Tharpe: Thank you.

Miller: Louise Palermo is the executive director of the Columbia Gorge Museum. Lou, thank you as well.

Palermo: Thank you, Dave.

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