The Untold Story of Black Women Who Quilted Their Way Into History

In 1847, 100 enslaved men, women, and children were forced to walk the 700 miles from North Carolina to Gee’s Bend, Alabama. Their descendants are still there today.

Even after slavery was declared illegal in 1863 and the formerly enslaved became sharecroppers, the town of Gee’s Bend remained impoverished and isolated, accessible only by a bridge over the Alabama River. The members of the community had to rely on each other to survive.

The women of Gee’s Bend stitched together discarded pieces of fabric, feed and flour sacks, and scraps of faded denim, fashioning the scraps into quilts to keep themselves and their families warm. Quiltmaking became an intergenerational tradition. And in 1937, a government program made it possible for many families to own and purchase land.  Gee’s Bend was finally looking at a brighter future.

In 1966, the women of Gee’s Bend formed the Freedom Quilting Bee -- a cooperative that sold the quilts as art. The commissions from the sales were invested in Gee’s Bend, introducing electric lines, purchasing school supplies, and building a transportation infrastructure. Within a decade, the quilts from the tiny community were in demand across the country, and more than 100,000 quilts had been sold.

The women of Gee’s Bend didn’t just create art, they invested in  their community. You don’t need a quilting needle to point out that there’s no fabric stronger than unity.