Stories of the Past

Hello!

Hope everyone is well.

This evening's post is on an exhibit I went to 

Thanksgiving week. Socially distanced of 

course.

Our county Historical Museum put on this exhibit. 

It highlights the museum's quilt collection and the 

stories of the families who made them. All the quilts 

combined patch together the unique history of our 

county. When you think of a quilt, what comes to 

mind? Do you think of why we use them, the story 

behind them, who made the quilt?

When seen as a historical artifact, they are more 

complex. History, emotion, family and friends come 

to mind. Quilts of the past represent special events 

and were gifted then passed down to family and 

friends as they are today. Every quilt tells a story as 

does every family.

Below are some of the quilts in the exhibit. They had 

id tags and stories about each quilt but I did not post 

those pics.

 

OOPS!

The quilt above was a fave of mine not for the quilt 

itself but for the story behind it. 

Betsy Ingalsbe Thomas made the quilt, She was born 

in Massachusetts in 1788. Her son brought the quilt 

to our county with their family. He and his wife had 

a daughter, Jessie. She was a smart child. As a young 

woman she taught in the county schools. She saved up
her money in order to go to a Women's Medical College 

in Chicago. In 1886, she earned her medical degree and 

sat up a medical practice in a neighboring city here. 

Doctors made house calls back then and she traveled 

around the area providing care for  area residents.

In 1905, Dr. Thomas married. In those days women 

gave up their jobs once they married but before she 

married she made her fiance agree that she could 

continue as the community Dr. Go girl!  In the pic 

above the quilt, you can see her Dr. bag.

**you can also read the rest of the story above , 

I have given the highlights. Click on the pic.

This quilt has an interesting story also. Click the 

pic if you are interested.

I love the stories behind old quilts. New ones too. 

Such a fun exhibit to see and for most of the the 

time I was there, no one else came in so I could 

putze around without feeling like I was in the way 

of someone else.

Happy Friday!

Blogger would not let me me changes to this post,

please forgive the jumps.

~Keep on Dreaming~