Barton Heritage Quilt

(music)

[Narrator] The story of the American Revolution isn't limited to 18th century objects. It extends into artifacts created long after the war ended.

The State Historical Society of Iowa has an extraordinary example.

[Jodi Evans, Registrar State Historical Society of Iowa ] This artifact is the Heritage Quilt created by Mary Pemble Barton between 1968 and 1975 for the 1976 bicentennial of the American Revolution. Mary placed her original design under copyright and the quilt was quilted by the members of St. Petri Lutheran Church in Story City, Iowa.

The quilt depicts the migration of Mary's ancestors westward from North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.

Mary's purpose in making this quilt was to create "a memorial to unsung generations of people striving to have better lives and land for their children". She describes the Heritage Quilt as a symbolic representation of pioneer life during the westward migration.

[Narrator] In ancient times, quilting was focused on functionality, designed to provide warmth and insulation. Although quilts didn't openly become recognized as art in America until about the 1970s, using quilts to tell stories or narrative quilting, has been a part of American culture for a long time. In the 1800s, it became a vehicle for women's voices to tell stories or express grief or political opinions.

In 1987, Iowa native Mary Pemble Barton donated her massive Heritage Quilt, nearly nine by eight feet, to the State Historical Society of Iowa. Every inch tells an element of her ancestor's story, a federal eagle, male and female pioneers, wagons, churches, cabins, a map tracing her family's journey west and a unique corner with letters, family trees and even an 1869 newspaper article depicting the settler's story. The materials used, some over 100 years old, are part of the narrative too.

[Evans] Some of the fabrics directly represent family members, such as the khaki shirt used for the frontiersman, a shirt worn by Mary's brother, a Marine pilot who was shot down over Japan on his first mission.

[Narrator] In 1999, four years before Barton's death, her Heritage Quilt was named one of the 100 best American quilts of the 20th century, bringing her work national recognition.

As a highly educated and talented quiltmaker and collector, Mary Pemble Barton provided her country not only with this iconic artifact, but also a groundbreaking research collection that has elevated quilting as both a scholarly field and an art form.

[Evans] Between 1988 and 1989, Mary Barton donated this collection to the State Historical Society of Iowa.

[Narrator] The documentation and boxes of fabrics in this room are an illustration of Barton's passion for knowledge. Not only surrounding the construction of quilts and caring for them, but also what quilts were made from, especially the origin of fabrics.

[Evans] 25 shoe boxes of fabric scraps that have been annotated as to what they are and where they came from.

[Narrator] From Living History Farms in Urbandale, to Simpson College in Indianola, and the Farmhouse Museum at Iowa State University, Barton’s many quilts found homes across Iowa. But at the State Historical Society, her Heritage Quilt rises above the rest as a defining treasure.

[Evans] This quilt is important to our nation's history because it invites thought and discussion about what it means to celebrate the United States of America.

The Heritage Quilt is one of our greatest acquisitions and will be kept for future generations.