United Daughters of the Confederacy members
in Jackson, Tennessee, 1909
The ladies associations North and South built monuments and assisted veterans and their families. Another task was preserving memories of the Civil War. In 1903 the South Carolina State Committee of the Daughters of the Confederacy published South Carolina Women in the Confederacy, collecting reports and memories of women's work and experiences.
A meeting in Tacoma 1922
Quilts are occasionally mentioned in the many accounts of sewing rooms and organizations.
Typical is the "First Quarterly Report of Soldier's Relief Association of Charleston," October 28, 1861.
The lists noted 262 packages (barrels, boxes, baskets, etc) sent to the soldiers containing 209 blankets, 32 quilts, 145 comforts, 134 needlebooks....
"Report of the Greenville Ladies' Aid Association," January 10, 1862
The women sent boxes and bales containing five counterpanes, seventy comforters, ten bedticks, fourteen blankets, two quilts...
A mid-20th-century meeting
Read the book here at Open Library. (I couldn't get a search function to work but perhaps if you download the PDF....)
5 comments:
Is it clear to you how they distinguished "counterpanes" from "comforters" from "quilts"? I suppose a "comforter" was layered but tied rather than quilted, and a "quilt" had the usual three layers and was quilted, not tied. Just guessing. What was a counterpane? Something woven? Or a quilt without a batting or filling layer (that some today might call a "spread"? Today, I use the terms "quilt" and "comforter" but not counterpane, and I haven't heard anyone else using it to describe any current - day bed covering.
It is nice that you can get books online now and learn about the ladies who did so much for others. Our library has a lot of new features for getting into resources from home, opens up a whole new world of learning about history and quilting.
Debbie
When I saw your headline, I thought to myself "why not?" Why not be proud of the history of your family and the events of this time. I think there is too much repression of this era. If I had a family member who participated in this effort to keep their soldiers comfortable, I would be proud. Thank you for the information you provide.
Carol Stearns is so correct. It isn't "pc" these days.
We can never go back in time to truly understand or completely relate to either side. History is written by people. And people see facts from their own point of view. The only way to understand this terrible struggle would have been to be there.
JuieinTN
I'm having trouble resizing the templates - I'm not real computer oriented so really not sure what I'm doing. I am basically a copy/paste person. I will keep trying.
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