Gee's Bend Quilts and Community

Production of the Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend is made possible by Alabama Power, the Alabama Power Foundation, and by the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Swing low, swing low, sweet old chariot, come and carry me home. Swing low, swing low, sweet chariot. This project is important to me personally as an African-American woman. People are moved, they cry, they want to know the women. We ain't thought about no artists for quips, but it came to be so. And I know it's so, because I done seen them on the wall at museums. I know it's something. And that makes it so beautiful to see these old people from the world. It brings memories back to me. Carry me home. Walk on in. I fell in love with the art. It's all leftover things that have been discarded by others the way they, the artists, have been discarded by society. And they take these discarded pieces and give them new and... Transcendent life. They would start to sing that song by Swing Low Sweet Cherry. Coming for to carry me home. Said they were ready to go home. They had such a hard time, they were ready to go home. They would sing that song by Swing Low Sweet Cherry. coming for to carry me home. Carry me home. When they said, well, we're going to see our quilt, I was expecting to see the new quilt. But when I walked in and saw all these old quilts, it brought back the memory. The memory of the hard time brought back the struggle, the pain, the night that I was awake from being hungry. It brought all that back. And I was thankful that I had the opportunity to go and see all the history from Jesus being. And knowing that I was part of it, I was part of it. And I was walking with the peoples. that had to quit hanging in the museum. It was awesome. It was awesome. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Father. AFS recording number 5090. Well, it's raining down here on the... Thanks God, yeah, it's raining down here on the... Thanks God, yeah, it's raining down here on the... Thanks God, yeah, my Lord says come on in here now. Well, it's coming down here on the... Thanks God, yeah, it's coming down here on the... Thank God you're here, don't be down here on the... Thank God you're old, my love, the cold is behind you. Yeah, on the... Thank God you're here... My family came to Gee's Band by, uh, Grandmama Dinah came from Africa in 1859, you know. She was sold and bought with a dime, but her mother and her brother went another direction. They separated them. They were not together, and she never did. get a chance to see her mama and her brother and her daddy anymore because she came this way and I guess the other went to North Carolina somewhere and worked but she never did get a chance to see them anymore. My daddy told me. He was sold to the master and he was an early in the beginning but he had to go into this main name what was over him and he was a peddler. And that, the way he said, he began in Jesus' being. It's a misconception, though, that all Petways are related. They're not at all. The plantation owner, at some point, it was decided that all the black people here that worked here, slaves, ex-slaves, had to take the name of the plantation owner, who was Petway. So that's how Petways got started. And most of the community at that time was named Petway. Now about still about half the community is Petways. We're going to go over to the site of the old plantation house, the Petway Plantation House, which was built in the 19th century. It doesn't stand anymore. It was torn down by the government in, I think, in the 40s. It was considered a symbol of the old plantation life, so they had it torn down. The last... The inhabitant of the plantation house was a man named John Miller, who was, he was the son of a slave named Dinah, who was the great-great-grandmother of Arlonzia Petway. So John Miller, John Henry Miller, was Arlonzia's great-uncle. Okay, now we'll have to find a good entry into these woods. It's grown up a great deal since I was here. So the plantation was in this area, right back in these woods. And I really don't see. Let's go on along the road and see what we can find. We can give this a shot. You know, if you get enough footage, you might be able to do another Blair Witch project out of this. Help yourself. You want me to go first, or you want to go first? Huh? Okay. I think I see what we're looking for so this was not as bad as I thought. There's the biggest of the remaining tombstones. It's really more of a monument. Mark Pettway is the man who bought this plantation in the 19th century from his cousin, whose name was Joseph Gee, who's the one... founded the whole thing. Mark's the one that came down, if you know the story, he came down from North Carolina with 100 slaves who walked all the way. Legend had it that the only one he allowed to ride was the cook. That's the original. group of slaves that formed the large plantation here in Gee's Bend. There's been very few people who've moved into here from other areas. There are a few. But for the most part, the community is occupied today by descendants of the original slaves, almost all of them. So this is Solomon. son of Mark Petway. So this is the sister of the Solomon Petway that we just saw. In memory of Marina, daughter of Mark and Marina Petway, born in Halifax County, North Carolina, married to John E. Jones. Okay, this side says that, it says sacred. To the memory of Willie C, daughter of Mark H and Marina C, Petway. So this is the younger sister of Marina on the other side. Married John E. Jones. I think that's the same man that married young Marina. So we've got two daughters and a son who are... The children of the original plantation owner, Mark Petway, who gave his name to every family down here, which is why there are so many Petways, his three children all died at very young ages, two of whom, after being married for one year, to John E. Jones. It's very suspicious. The land changed hands a few times over the next hundred years, well, up until the time of the Roosevelt administration. Gee's Bend had a period of time in which it really did hit rock bottom in the 30s. All the people here were heavily indebted to a family who loaned money. They called it advancing. And so everyone had been advanced money to buy seeds and to buy whatever they needed. When the price of cotton down here dropped from, down here and everywhere, dropped from 40 cents a pound to a nickel a pound, and people were making their entire income from cotton farming and a little bit of produce, there was just no way to make it. At that point, the man who had advanced them all died, and his wife and the creditors decided, let's just call in the debts. And they came over here with an army, basically, of... Horseback riders who were black and white who just swept through the community and took everything. Took everything that wasn't nailed down. And after about 8 o'clock, here come this man with this buggy. He coming on in there and he went in there and he got the little cone out the barn. He got a few sweet potatoes and he had but one hog. He got the one hog and he got the hog. And mama had three or four hens, a hen and a rooster, some of you call it, in the hen house. And she hadn't got to the place, she couldn't take it no more. And he just started to the hen house to get the hens and the rooster out there. When he started there, she picked up this long crooked ham hoe and told that man, if you go in my hen house to get my last hen, say I'm going to cut your neck off with this hoe. And that time that man jumped in his book and down that road he went. And that's how brave she was. The people didn't have anything because they broke up the people that year and the Red Cross had to take over that year and start defeating the people. The community was reduced to... Abject poverty, and like it had never had before. And the quilts from that period reflect that. If you know the history, then you can see it reflected in the art. The Roosevelt administration at that point had taken an interest in this area because it was determined to be the poorest area in the country. Wilcox County was the poorest county, and this community was the poorest community. There was no income. The land was purchased by the government and parceled out and black people were allowed to actually buy and own land and the government built them houses for a cheap price and with long low-interest mortgages. One of the things that I've been most surprised that has been the international fame of this exhibition. I've been in museums since 1968 and I've never seen a phenomenon like this. If you'd asked these women, are you artists? Until recently they would have said no, we're just doing this because it comes naturally. So our definitions of artists and outsider artists and so on are all thrown into question. These quilts are important as contemporary art for several reasons. The first being that they represent a tradition that has been passed on for a number of generations in a very small area in America, Gee's Bend, Alabama. The quilts reflect the history of that area and of this country in their making. And it asks all of us about genius, you know, and where does it reside. I can't cut straight. It'll tear most straight and then I'll cut it straight. Bill, he is telling us it was artwork. I didn't know nothing about the band that they didn't look good. You're talking about art? He told me, yeah. I never thought I would get honored and praised by the quilt. Ten or twelve, fifteen years ago, I didn't think this would happen. We were selling quilts, but we didn't think this would happen. Until Bill came along, he told us that we had artwork, and I didn't know what artwork was. He said, y'all have all this beautiful artwork here on y'all mattress and things. He's just going to the mattress and trying to pull out the mattress, the old quips we have up under there. He said, this is fine artwork, I said. Oddwood, he said, yeah, this is Oddwood. Yeah, before he came down, he would get about $5 a quill. He told me they sell for $2,000. But I had never sold one for no $2,000 yet, but I had had two sell. One was $12.50 and the other one was $15.50. I was looking through a book on quilts, and I saw a picture of a woman holding a quilt or draping it over a pile of wood, and I... It had her name and it said, I don't know, Wilcox County, Alabama or something. So I was eager to find it and see if it still existed. It was an old photograph, so I came down here and located Mrs. Young in the middle of the night. And she told me to come back the next day, and she actually found the quilt under the bed. She didn't even realize she had it. And that was what got me started collecting down in this area. And as I said, it ended up on the cover of the book, and it merited being there. It wasn't there for sentimental reasons. It was really a very major quilt, a major piece of art. So we're at her house now, and I hope she'll be here. Hey, Ms. Young. Hey. How are you? All right. Glad to see you. Glad to see you, too. I haven't seen you since Canada. Sure. Well, when we first met, he came here to the house. I didn't know him, and he didn't know me. She said he inquired until he found me. He saw this picture on his book. He said, I got to find this woman here. So he did find me. I was scared. I didn't... I was scared to death. I'm a scary person. But he's the nicest person you knew I wanted to meet. He's one of the nicest people. But I had to learn that. I didn't know him. He didn't know me. And I really was, you know, shy. You know. I was shy too. Coming up here in the middle of the night and talking to some strange woman. Yeah. You know how that was. Not that you're that strange, but... A election here, and we was electing a mayor or a president or a senator, Bill would win. That's how much the people love him. Yes, he would win. Bill would win. I call him a genius. I'll tell you the reason why. To take a quilt. To be able to come into a community to see Quilt, I quit hanging out. To be able to recognize art, I believe you were led by God to come through the community. We didn't know we were throwing away history. We didn't know we were throwing away art. And Bill came and brought all this to pass. When I cut my TV on at Mobile, I could see Quilt. Flash across the screen, and most what make me feel good about it, I see my home, Gee's Bend, and I can see my own people on TV. I thought it would never happen. Bill is another person in our life, because Bill started this whole thing of the Gee's Bend Quilters. Now that is his foundation, he made the Gee's Bend Quilters. As many women have said, and I'm sure they've said it to you, Thank you. They never realized that the world would respect them as human beings, would respect what they did as being important, and respect them, would respect their culture, respect their community. And I tell you, too, I thought it was crazy buying all them old quilts. I said, what's wrong with this land? These quilts ain't no good for nothing. But when you don't know, just stand back and look and wait. and see what it would bring. And I just shot up and waited and see, and see now what the Lord done for Jews being well. So precious. So blessed. He was a healthy man when he first started. I reckon he'd lose his head or worse. But thank God he's yet able to travel. He's yet able to do it. God bless him. Keep him in his keeping key. Because he have open door for the G's being winning. I became fascinated with Bill Arnett himself. He's a mad genius. He's an art historian who has discovered this art and become very intimately involved with the artists, as do, especially his son Matt. We heard from Milwaukee, they have two buses. We're leaving Tuesday morning, we're stopping for lunch in Nashville. There's an exhibition of quilts from the collective in Nashville. We're stopping at the gallery for lunch, and then we're going on to Louisville and spending the night. Wednesday morning, we leave Louisville to arrive midday in Milwaukee. We've got the... List of women from Gee's Bend. It looks like there's 16 living quilt makers who are in the exhibit and an additional 32 quilt makers going. This sweater here is for me to wear when it gets cool on the bus. I would put this sweater here on. And this one I wear when we be sitting out on the gare eating. Having fun laughing and talking and reading books. I would wear this outfit Thursday night and these shoes would go with it. I don't know where we would be going out to eat at. You could tell me that so I could know. I would put that on Friday morning. And this is my next dress. I don't know what day it ain't going to be for me to wear this one. My daughter choose this one for me to wear to dinner. With the gold shoes go with them. And so I picked this one here to go with dinner because I just love it. It's cool and it's real big on me, not tight or nothing. It's just way good. And I just love it for dinner. I would love that for dinner, but she going, I got to try to dress to suit her. It's a little too big, but I'm going to wear it anyway. This is my rag. I'm going to put this on my head because I'm going to keep the rollers in because my hair is so easy to go back. I just put this on my head when I get on the bus and when I get there I just take my rollers down. And then I'm set to go. I got to do something to my old lot of hair. Get my case up, suitcase up, and I'm ready for traveling in the morning. When I first was telling the women about... The exhibitions that would be held and the fact that they would be able to go, they all first said, well, we're not going to fly because most of them don't want to fly or haven't. And so I said, what about buses? Well, yeah, we'll go anywhere on a bus. So they have gone on buses, and I think there are going to be 70 or more going to Milwaukee. They be wanting me to go, but I can't go that far. I can't ride that far. The doctor told me don't be around to cry. When I go around to cry, I can't sleep, I can't eat. Loretta Petway is one of the great quilt makers down here, obviously. I mean, we put our quilt on the cover of the book and our picture on the back cover, and we're all big fans of Loretta Petway. But I never liked it, the quilt. But after I married and had a family, I ain't had no other choice because... I asked people for quills and they wouldn't give me none. And so I said, well, I'm going to make these the best I know how and quill them. They're going to keep me and my kids warm. And that's what I did. Things had really changed. God had really worked miracles. God worked miracles. I have gas. I have water. I have lights. I had a washing machine. I had a freezer, a deep freezer. I used to have the can. Everything we had, like peas, greens, okras, tomato soup, blackberries. We had to do a lot of canning. But it was rough. But what little we had, we took it and made it back in the day. I come up on some of it, the rough times. We had to pump water. I had to tote at least. I didn't have a pump. I raised up all my children toting water to cook with, to wash with, to take a bath in. We had to hunt water outside in the wash pot for to take a bath and to wash with. Didn't have a washing machine. We had a roof bowl. I still have my roof bowl. My husband made that. He washed clean clothes, too. And it been, it's real old. I've been had it, but it's still good. If I happen to need it, I have it. When my washing machine break down, I go on my rubber boat till I get able to get me another one. I didn't have a shoe to put on in the winter, one pair of shoes. But she's had a really hard life. I mean, everyone's had a hard life. She's had a harder life. She's suffered from depression. She's had some... problems with her. husband. Yeah, my husband always downed me. Me and him stayed married for 30 years and I have a fear because I have a fear betoward men because my husband was my husband treated me so bad And I don't know how to describe it, but I don't deal around men too much. There are about five or six of her quilts in the show. I think she's represented with more quilts than anyone in the show, and yet she won't even go and look at it. We sure hope we can get her somewhere. Well, all the time she claims she doesn't feel right or good. She don't feel good enough to go. That's what she tells me because she's my cousin. Me and her two sister children, I ask her about it sometimes. I say, why don't you go and be with us sometime? She says, well, I'd be sick. I ain't like you or I'm not well. I don't be feeling good. That's what she'll tell me. And maybe with everybody chipping in to raise Loretta's spirit, she'll go to the show. I hope so. What about Milwaukee? Would you consider going to Milwaukee? Mm-mm. No. The boy, oh, here I go. Oh, my, my, my, my. Somebody waits for me. Sugar's again. So is he. La, Good morning everybody. Good morning. And we bless the Lord for being here this morning. Yes. Lord, right now, Lord, bless them right now, God. My Lord. That they will keep their mind stayed on Jesus. Yes, Lord. I think that religion is the most important part of this community. I've been peace and quills by 60-something years, and I don't know why I would contend with peace and making quills and peace and quills, because God had a plan for it. When I started peace and quills, I just said, there and pray. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I sing and it gives me joy to do that. By sitting there piecing the quills, it gives me a little joy just to sit there and sing and pray. talk to the Lord, tell him because he know he brought me from a long way. Oh, Jesus, Jesus is my only friend. Oh, Jesus, Jesus is my only friend. Jesus is my only friend. Hey, Travis. Oh, I'm going to do that. I am a minister at Ye Shall Know the Truth Baptist Church in G-Stand, Alabama. The Bible says, when God blesses, who God blesses, no man can curse. That's what it says. Amen. And if he curses you, can't anybody bless you? I'm going to be there for this week. I'm going to be there. Hallelujah. As a child coming up, didn't have much, as you would say, hard of anything, okay? We were able to sing the song. songs of Zion. That's why you may see me in my service now. I'm always talking about how good God is to me, what he brought us from. We love you, Jesus. We love you this morning. We love you, God. We have 10,000 children. We can praise you, Lord. We thank you. Thank you for being real. Thank you for being real. Prayer change things. What's going on wrong? You go to God, He change these things. You trust God for everything. He believed in God. He had faith that God would take care. And he did. You see, the slaves did sing. And that's where they get the joy from. They did sing. And they did sing them old slave gospel songs. And they was proud of themselves to be able to sing with one another. That was the joy. Part of the way of living. You sing, you forget. It makes joy in the heart to bring peace to the self. And singing and praising God was the best way to get that. Through all them years, having joy by singing. Now we got joy up on the walls to look at. It's a blessing. It's a good feeling. What my mother taught me to do. Look where it ain't. All in Texas, all in New York, all in Mobile, every which way. Look where it ain't. That's a good thing. That's a blessed thing. The part of religion here in Jesus being is that every parent, when they have kids, they teach their children that they should get religion. So they can have religion and help them to live the true life of the Lord. And depending on the Lord, they take them to heaven. You have to live the life, though. You can't just get religion and do nothing with it. You have to live. Thank you for the Lamb, the precious Lamb of God. Because of your grace I can't exist right now. What a thing about the new generation. Thank you for the precious Lamb. Coming up for the main quiz, you got to go there, because they don't want it. They don't care. They don't want to work. Just one or two. It's animated granddaughter. You don't have time to stop and sit down and piece up. It takes time to sit down and put pieces together. They just want to do what they want to do. Play games, watch TV. Have all the money in the pocket, get in the car, boom, boom, boom. Like I said, my little granddaughter, she comes over, she see me piecing up quill, and she stand up and look at me and say she wants to piece up quill. She want to learn how to piece up quill. Some days I come from school, but I'm going to be back here sewing on the machine. Yeah. I stay here and watch, then I go back home. She's trying to learn. You know, they find men that want to talk about what they want to do, but they ain't got time. No. No. We thank God that he's here, and we thank God for carrying us on this journey. The art is so full of love and patriotism and hope. It's very moving, you know. The rest of us can get cynical and angry. These people, of all people, should be, and they're not. The storm has passed over, here comes the rainbow and the sun. I never dreamed that I would ever see the day, we could stand up to the world and proudly say, we finally got over, ooh, thank you Lord, we finally got over. Hi, I'm Noni. Hi, I'm Jackie. Very nice to meet you. Yeah, good. I'm Jackie. Hi. Hi there. All right, there you are. I'm very well, thank you. My name is David Gordon, and I'm the director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. And I wanted to welcome you to Milwaukee. Ziva! Ooh, beautiful! This is beautiful! What's up, beautiful? Oh, look at this style! Ooh, gracious face, this big. ...where you're coming up to Milwaukee. People are really excited that you're here. We're going to get to the museum and let me just tell you what's going to happen tonight. We'll walk in and there will be a table with name tags and you'll meet some people from the... the museum who will kind of be your personal host. For the first hour there'll be music and you have a chance to walk into the exhibition and take a look around and just talk with people. Most art shows, which are group shows, don't have the feeling of any unity between the different artists. And this show has got it, which is extraordinary, given that the quilts are made, some are made as early as the 1930s and some as late as recent times. The wonder of these isn't that they're poor or not as well educated. That is a snobbish attitude. I mean, more than snobbish, it's a closed attitude. Because what these quilts are is a level of sophistication that no art academy can teach. The whole community here is the Academy. There's two reasons why this show is so important. One is the art. It's the quilts. Seeing the compositions, the bold patterns, the asymmetry, these quilts are fantastic works of art. What you're seeing is things that came out of the women's mind. They had no influences. A lot of people made connections with these works and works of modern contemporary art. They didn't know Barnett Newman's work. They didn't know Joseph Alper's work. These designs came out of their heads. And I want to make sure that we all... know and give them that agency. These are the artists who created this work. They're not copying anybody else. This came out of their soul, and this came out of their heart, and this is what they created. Second, it's Gee's Bend, the story of Gee's Bend, and the history of Gee's Bend. The stories behind these quilts are what make them talk to people. The stories such as Missouri Petways quilt in which she took all of the clothing that her husband owned after his his death. And she asked her daughter, Arlonzia, to help her rip up the pieces of clothing and to make a quilt out of them. She said, I'm going to take every piece of clothing that he has and make a quilt out of it to wrap myself in when I miss him. And it's such a poignant story. And then you look at the quilt and realize that's everything he owned. So you're really learning about the lives of these women, the lives of these community. Well, the only thing that people had then was dress tails and britches. Like I told you, and took an old lot of pants and leg and old britches and leg and old dress tail. You'll find all of that being used, but that's because that's what was available. When they took those and made things out of them, it's the same as a white artist carving marble. A quilt is like a Rosetta Stone. There's a language to it that needs to be decoded. To begin with, most of the forms are abstracted from life, which is what most abstract art in the world is. Abstraction is an ancient thing, not a modern thing. And in Gee's Bend... Like in other places, women's quilt patterns came from life. The housetop, which is squares and forms within a square, is actually, was first, I imagine, a woman lying in bed looking up at the ceiling at the rafters and the pattern they formed and making it and calling it a housetop. You could lay down in your house and you ain't had to go out the door to see the stars and the clouds. They express a joy and a wonderment that makes you glad to be part of the human race. And I think that's a role of art to be inspiring. And these are just quilts. I mean, all it is is fabric stitched together. I mean, think of that. It's inanimate material that has a life force. I can take you in hundreds and hundreds of old, abandoned black shacks, some of which predate the 20th century, and you'll see those newspapered walls that look just as good as any Cubist artist did. I mean, they didn't just slap newspapers indiscriminately on the walls. They made collages. And then they sat down and made quilts that reflected that aesthetic. Mary Lee Bendolph is one of our exceptional women quilters here today. She was born in 1935. Tell me the story of the ferry, because I understand that the ferry service was canceled because people in Gee's Bend got a little uppity during the Civil Rights Movement, am I right? Yeah, because of the Civil Rights. They moved the ferry. That's what I said. They did it because they didn't want us to become a registered voter. Going to Camden, every day there'd be the Comrade's Devotee. So finally we made it, and we got over there. When we got over there, we went to the church. And when we got at the church, they threw tear gas on us. We came out and stood there singing and praying. Nummy, you never can't jail us all. Oh, Lamy, you never can tell us all. Okay, go ahead. Mary Lee has her mother's prophetic dreaming. Tell us the story of Dr. Martin Luther King. When you were, you had a dream that somebody important was coming. It turned out to be King. How did I get involved with Martin Luther King? It was enough. In a dream I had, I had been dreaming that dream and dreaming the dream. I didn't know what it was all about. He helped got the people, you know, rotted up that they can get something to do something on their own without depending on the white man for everything to be done. The Freedom Quilting Bee was a women's sewing co-op started by Reverend Walters in 1966. He had started it as a response. To the criticism that the civil rights workers came but then left and didn't do anything that was lasting. They just came and marched and were heard, but they didn't really stay and take the heat that they had to take when people left and had the problems of being kicked off their land or losing their jobs because they had marched or tried to register to vote. Boys, blow up. Giff came from Martin Luther King for the building of this scripture. Yes, he did. He sure enough did. He was furthest, and that's why we named him, because he was the furthest from Giff. That's why we named him the Freedom Quitter. That's how he come by here tonight. They couldn't be with me always, a part of me. Because it's the first place I ever went to get a check. I didn't know what check was for myself until it could be come to. And then when it couldn't be called, I went to getting paid by a check. We thought that was real money because we wasn't used to getting anything. We thought it was real money. And they gave us $12 a piece and we worked and worked and worked before I left. I was getting $15 a week. I think the Freedom Quilting Bee in its day was a really noble effort to bring money to the community and to find a way of marketing their talents outside the community. Artistically, it wasn't something that fortunately affected the creativity of the women. I mean, it was a cottage industry in which women came together from all the little surrounding communities and created patterns based on designs that were posted on the wall, so everyone had to do the same. And they had, because places like Bloomingdale's that were ordering these quilts and other kinds of catalog sale organization. Had to have a standardized product. You had to make the stitches really little in order to keep the business going, because if you didn't make them stitches little in, that quilt would come back, and you have to keep it in a straight row. The kind of quilts they made down here were not acceptable at the Freedom Quilting Bee, and the woman that you know who lives the closest to where the Freedom Quilting Bee was, was Annie Mae Young, and they wouldn't let her work there, because they said her stitches... were too uneven and her work was too sloppy, as it were. Why did they? They didn't like my quilting because the stitching was too long. I didn't quilt neat enough. So she stayed home, made her own things, and she's one of the great artists in America. I loved the exhibit in New York. I drove here from Chicago to see it again and to meet the women. Oh, it's fabulous. I mean, it's really interesting because it's like going to see a modern art show, really. I mean, you have like abstract modernism, but then you look at the people that did it and where it all came from. I mean, it's just fabulous. It really reflects a true artist's heart and the spirit of an artist. Yeah, the real masterpiece is art, you know. They are amazing. I'm really, really amazed about this. I've never seen something like this. Thank you. Come on in. There's a big crowd already in there. This is such an honor. I mean, it really is. To meet your family and whatnot. My god. We wanted to know what the Haters of G's men wanted for themselves. And what they wanted was the recognition now due to them as artists. They wanted to be able to do some sightseeing, and they wanted to be able to sing. And tonight, we're able to let them sing. So, can I ask the White Rose Choir, please, to come to the stage. Somebody knocking at your door. Somebody knocking at your door. Oh, oh, say, oh, why don't you answer? Somebody knocking at your door. Somebody... This is my last opportunity to say goodbye to all of you. As I said last night, we've so much enjoyed having you. And we've sort of all fallen in love with each other. So we have to keep this going. We want you all to come back. And we'll certainly be coming to Gee's Bend to see you there. And we wanted you to have the opportunity to have a, since it's Sunday, for you to have a service if you wanted one before you got on the bus. So if you'd like to do that. I got the opportunity. Thank you. You just look where he brought me from. You just look where he brought me from. He brought me out of darkness into the marvelous light. Look where he brought me from. Look where he brought me from. Look where he brought me from. He brought me out of the dark into tomorrow's light. Look where he brought me from. He brought me. He brought me. Yes, he did. He placed my feet on solid ground. He's brought me. And I'm so glad he's brought me. Oh, hey! He's brought me. I'm so glad he's brought me. He's brought me. He's brought me. Just look where he brought me. from. Oh, yeah. Just look where he brought me from. Oh, he brought me out of darkness into the farthest light. Just look where he brought me from. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Many years I keep calling, calling through this storm and rain. I've been patiently waiting, waiting for my blessed Lord, Lord. Coming home, coming home, lead me through the path of sin, yes, hide me in his love.

This project is important to me personally as an African-American woman. People are moved, they cry, they want to know the women. We ain't thought about no artists for quips, but it came to be so.

And I know it's so, because I done seen them on the wall at museums. I know it's something. And that makes it so beautiful to see these old people from the world. It brings memories back to me. Carry me home.

Walk on in. I fell in love with the art. It's all leftover things that have been discarded by others the way they, the artists, have been discarded by society.

And they take these discarded pieces and give them new and... Transcendent life. They would start to sing that song by Swing Low Sweet Cherry. Coming for to carry me home. Said they were ready to go home.

They had such a hard time, they were ready to go home. They would sing that song by Swing Low Sweet Cherry. coming for to carry me home. Carry me home. When they said, well, we're going to see our quilt, I was expecting to see the new quilt.

But when I walked in and saw all these old quilts, it brought back the memory. The memory of the hard time brought back the struggle, the pain, the night that I was awake from being hungry. It brought all that back.

And I was thankful that I had the opportunity to go and see all the history from Jesus being. And knowing that I was part of it, I was part of it. And I was walking with the peoples. that had to quit hanging in the museum. It was awesome.

It was awesome. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Father. AFS recording number 5090. Well, it's raining down here on the... Thanks God, yeah, it's raining down here on the... Thanks God, yeah, it's raining down here on the...

Thanks God, yeah, my Lord says come on in here now. Well, it's coming down here on the... Thanks God, yeah, it's coming down here on the... Thank God you're here, don't be down here on the...

Thank God you're old, my love, the cold is behind you. Yeah, on the... Thank God you're here...

My family came to Gee's Band by, uh, Grandmama Dinah came from Africa in 1859, you know. She was sold and bought with a dime, but her mother and her brother went another direction. They separated them.

They were not together, and she never did. get a chance to see her mama and her brother and her daddy anymore because she came this way and I guess the other went to North Carolina somewhere and worked but she never did get a chance to see them anymore. My daddy told me. He was sold to the master and he was an early in the beginning but he had to go into this main name what was over him and he was a peddler. And that, the way he said, he began in Jesus' being.

It's a misconception, though, that all Petways are related. They're not at all. The plantation owner, at some point, it was decided that all the black people here that worked here, slaves, ex-slaves, had to take the name of the plantation owner, who was Petway. So that's how Petways got started.

And most of the community at that time was named Petway. Now about still about half the community is Petways. We're going to go over to the site of the old plantation house, the Petway Plantation House, which was built in the 19th century.

It doesn't stand anymore. It was torn down by the government in, I think, in the 40s. It was considered a symbol of the old plantation life, so they had it torn down. The last...

The inhabitant of the plantation house was a man named John Miller, who was, he was the son of a slave named Dinah, who was the great-great-grandmother of Arlonzia Petway. So John Miller, John Henry Miller, was Arlonzia's great-uncle. Okay, now we'll have to find a good entry into these woods.

It's grown up a great deal since I was here. So the plantation was in this area, right back in these woods. And I really don't see. Let's go on along the road and see what we can find. We can give this a shot.

You know, if you get enough footage, you might be able to do another Blair Witch project out of this. Help yourself. You want me to go first, or you want to go first?

Huh? Okay. I think I see what we're looking for so this was not as bad as I thought. There's the biggest of the remaining tombstones. It's really more of a monument.

Mark Pettway is the man who bought this plantation in the 19th century from his cousin, whose name was Joseph Gee, who's the one... founded the whole thing. Mark's the one that came down, if you know the story, he came down from North Carolina with 100 slaves who walked all the way.

Legend had it that the only one he allowed to ride was the cook. That's the original. group of slaves that formed the large plantation here in Gee's Bend.

There's been very few people who've moved into here from other areas. There are a few. But for the most part, the community is occupied today by descendants of the original slaves, almost all of them.

So this is Solomon. son of Mark Petway. So this is the sister of the Solomon Petway that we just saw. In memory of Marina, daughter of Mark and Marina Petway, born in Halifax County, North Carolina, married to John E. Jones. Okay, this side says that, it says sacred.

To the memory of Willie C, daughter of Mark H and Marina C, Petway. So this is the younger sister of Marina on the other side. Married John E. Jones.

I think that's the same man that married young Marina. So we've got two daughters and a son who are... The children of the original plantation owner, Mark Petway, who gave his name to every family down here, which is why there are so many Petways, his three children all died at very young ages, two of whom, after being married for one year, to John E. Jones.

It's very suspicious. The land changed hands a few times over the next hundred years, well, up until the time of the Roosevelt administration. Gee's Bend had a period of time in which it really did hit rock bottom in the 30s.

All the people here were heavily indebted to a family who loaned money. They called it advancing. And so everyone had been advanced money to buy seeds and to buy whatever they needed. When the price of cotton down here dropped from, down here and everywhere, dropped from 40 cents a pound to a nickel a pound, and people were making their entire income from cotton farming and a little bit of produce, there was just no way to make it. At that point, the man who had advanced them all died, and his wife and the creditors decided, let's just call in the debts.

And they came over here with an army, basically, of... Horseback riders who were black and white who just swept through the community and took everything. Took everything that wasn't nailed down.

And after about 8 o'clock, here come this man with this buggy. He coming on in there and he went in there and he got the little cone out the barn. He got a few sweet potatoes and he had but one hog.

He got the one hog and he got the hog. And mama had three or four hens, a hen and a rooster, some of you call it, in the hen house. And she hadn't got to the place, she couldn't take it no more. And he just started to the hen house to get the hens and the rooster out there. When he started there, she picked up this long crooked ham hoe and told that man, if you go in my hen house to get my last hen, say I'm going to cut your neck off with this hoe.

And that time that man jumped in his book and down that road he went. And that's how brave she was. The people didn't have anything because they broke up the people that year and the Red Cross had to take over that year and start defeating the people.

The community was reduced to... Abject poverty, and like it had never had before. And the quilts from that period reflect that. If you know the history, then you can see it reflected in the art. The Roosevelt administration at that point had taken an interest in this area because it was determined to be the poorest area in the country.

Wilcox County was the poorest county, and this community was the poorest community. There was no income. The land was purchased by the government and parceled out and black people were allowed to actually buy and own land and the government built them houses for a cheap price and with long low-interest mortgages. One of the things that I've been most surprised that has been the international fame of this exhibition.

I've been in museums since 1968 and I've never seen a phenomenon like this. If you'd asked these women, are you artists? Until recently they would have said no, we're just doing this because it comes naturally. So our definitions of artists and outsider artists and so on are all thrown into question.

These quilts are important as contemporary art for several reasons. The first being that they represent a tradition that has been passed on for a number of generations in a very small area in America, Gee's Bend, Alabama. The quilts reflect the history of that area and of this country in their making. And it asks all of us about genius, you know, and where does it reside.

I can't cut straight. It'll tear most straight and then I'll cut it straight. Bill, he is telling us it was artwork. I didn't know nothing about the band that they didn't look good. You're talking about art?

He told me, yeah. I never thought I would get honored and praised by the quilt. Ten or twelve, fifteen years ago, I didn't think this would happen. We were selling quilts, but we didn't think this would happen.

Until Bill came along, he told us that we had artwork, and I didn't know what artwork was. He said, y'all have all this beautiful artwork here on y'all mattress and things. He's just going to the mattress and trying to pull out the mattress, the old quips we have up under there. He said, this is fine artwork, I said.

Oddwood, he said, yeah, this is Oddwood. Yeah, before he came down, he would get about $5 a quill. He told me they sell for $2,000.

But I had never sold one for no $2,000 yet, but I had had two sell. One was $12.50 and the other one was $15.50. I was looking through a book on quilts, and I saw a picture of a woman holding a quilt or draping it over a pile of wood, and I... It had her name and it said, I don't know, Wilcox County, Alabama or something.

So I was eager to find it and see if it still existed. It was an old photograph, so I came down here and located Mrs. Young in the middle of the night. And she told me to come back the next day, and she actually found the quilt under the bed. She didn't even realize she had it.

And that was what got me started collecting down in this area. And as I said, it ended up on the cover of the book, and it merited being there. It wasn't there for sentimental reasons.

It was really a very major quilt, a major piece of art. So we're at her house now, and I hope she'll be here. Hey, Ms. Young.

Hey. How are you? All right.

Glad to see you. Glad to see you, too. I haven't seen you since Canada.

Sure. Well, when we first met, he came here to the house. I didn't know him, and he didn't know me.

She said he inquired until he found me. He saw this picture on his book. He said, I got to find this woman here. So he did find me.

I was scared. I didn't... I was scared to death. I'm a scary person.

But he's the nicest person you knew I wanted to meet. He's one of the nicest people. But I had to learn that.

I didn't know him. He didn't know me. And I really was, you know, shy.

You know. I was shy too. Coming up here in the middle of the night and talking to some strange woman.

Yeah. You know how that was. Not that you're that strange, but... A election here, and we was electing a mayor or a president or a senator, Bill would win. That's how much the people love him.

Yes, he would win. Bill would win. I call him a genius. I'll tell you the reason why.

To take a quilt. To be able to come into a community to see Quilt, I quit hanging out. To be able to recognize art, I believe you were led by God to come through the community. We didn't know we were throwing away history. We didn't know we were throwing away art.

And Bill came and brought all this to pass. When I cut my TV on at Mobile, I could see Quilt. Flash across the screen, and most what make me feel good about it, I see my home, Gee's Bend, and I can see my own people on TV.

I thought it would never happen. Bill is another person in our life, because Bill started this whole thing of the Gee's Bend Quilters. Now that is his foundation, he made the Gee's Bend Quilters.

As many women have said, and I'm sure they've said it to you, Thank you. They never realized that the world would respect them as human beings, would respect what they did as being important, and respect them, would respect their culture, respect their community. And I tell you, too, I thought it was crazy buying all them old quilts. I said, what's wrong with this land?

These quilts ain't no good for nothing. But when you don't know, just stand back and look and wait. and see what it would bring.

And I just shot up and waited and see, and see now what the Lord done for Jews being well. So precious. So blessed. He was a healthy man when he first started. I reckon he'd lose his head or worse.

But thank God he's yet able to travel. He's yet able to do it. God bless him.

Keep him in his keeping key. Because he have open door for the G's being winning. I became fascinated with Bill Arnett himself. He's a mad genius. He's an art historian who has discovered this art and become very intimately involved with the artists, as do, especially his son Matt.

We heard from Milwaukee, they have two buses. We're leaving Tuesday morning, we're stopping for lunch in Nashville. There's an exhibition of quilts from the collective in Nashville. We're stopping at the gallery for lunch, and then we're going on to Louisville and spending the night. Wednesday morning, we leave Louisville to arrive midday in Milwaukee.

We've got the... List of women from Gee's Bend. It looks like there's 16 living quilt makers who are in the exhibit and an additional 32 quilt makers going.

This sweater here is for me to wear when it gets cool on the bus. I would put this sweater here on. And this one I wear when we be sitting out on the gare eating.

Having fun laughing and talking and reading books. I would wear this outfit Thursday night and these shoes would go with it. I don't know where we would be going out to eat at.

You could tell me that so I could know. I would put that on Friday morning. And this is my next dress.

I don't know what day it ain't going to be for me to wear this one. My daughter choose this one for me to wear to dinner. With the gold shoes go with them. And so I picked this one here to go with dinner because I just love it. It's cool and it's real big on me, not tight or nothing.

It's just way good. And I just love it for dinner. I would love that for dinner, but she going, I got to try to dress to suit her. It's a little too big, but I'm going to wear it anyway.

This is my rag. I'm going to put this on my head because I'm going to keep the rollers in because my hair is so easy to go back. I just put this on my head when I get on the bus and when I get there I just take my rollers down. And then I'm set to go.

I got to do something to my old lot of hair. Get my case up, suitcase up, and I'm ready for traveling in the morning. When I first was telling the women about...

The exhibitions that would be held and the fact that they would be able to go, they all first said, well, we're not going to fly because most of them don't want to fly or haven't. And so I said, what about buses? Well, yeah, we'll go anywhere on a bus. So they have gone on buses, and I think there are going to be 70 or more going to Milwaukee.

They be wanting me to go, but I can't go that far. I can't ride that far. The doctor told me don't be around to cry.

When I go around to cry, I can't sleep, I can't eat. Loretta Petway is one of the great quilt makers down here, obviously. I mean, we put our quilt on the cover of the book and our picture on the back cover, and we're all big fans of Loretta Petway.

But I never liked it, the quilt. But after I married and had a family, I ain't had no other choice because... I asked people for quills and they wouldn't give me none. And so I said, well, I'm going to make these the best I know how and quill them. They're going to keep me and my kids warm.

And that's what I did. Things had really changed. God had really worked miracles.

God worked miracles. I have gas. I have water. I have lights.

I had a washing machine. I had a freezer, a deep freezer. I used to have the can.

Everything we had, like peas, greens, okras, tomato soup, blackberries. We had to do a lot of canning. But it was rough.

But what little we had, we took it and made it back in the day. I come up on some of it, the rough times. We had to pump water. I had to tote at least.

I didn't have a pump. I raised up all my children toting water to cook with, to wash with, to take a bath in. We had to hunt water outside in the wash pot for to take a bath and to wash with. Didn't have a washing machine.

We had a roof bowl. I still have my roof bowl. My husband made that. He washed clean clothes, too. And it been, it's real old.

I've been had it, but it's still good. If I happen to need it, I have it. When my washing machine break down, I go on my rubber boat till I get able to get me another one. I didn't have a shoe to put on in the winter, one pair of shoes. But she's had a really hard life.

I mean, everyone's had a hard life. She's had a harder life. She's suffered from depression. She's had some... problems with her.

husband. Yeah, my husband always downed me. Me and him stayed married for 30 years and I have a fear because I have a fear betoward men because my husband was my husband treated me so bad And I don't know how to describe it, but I don't deal around men too much.

There are about five or six of her quilts in the show. I think she's represented with more quilts than anyone in the show, and yet she won't even go and look at it. We sure hope we can get her somewhere. Well, all the time she claims she doesn't feel right or good.

She don't feel good enough to go. That's what she tells me because she's my cousin. Me and her two sister children, I ask her about it sometimes. I say, why don't you go and be with us sometime?

She says, well, I'd be sick. I ain't like you or I'm not well. I don't be feeling good.

That's what she'll tell me. And maybe with everybody chipping in to raise Loretta's spirit, she'll go to the show. I hope so.

What about Milwaukee? Would you consider going to Milwaukee? Mm-mm. No.

The boy, oh, here I go. Oh, my, my, my, my. Somebody waits for me. Sugar's again. So is he.

La, Good morning everybody. Good morning. And we bless the Lord for being here this morning. Yes. Lord, right now, Lord, bless them right now, God.

My Lord. That they will keep their mind stayed on Jesus. Yes, Lord.

I think that religion is the most important part of this community. I've been peace and quills by 60-something years, and I don't know why I would contend with peace and making quills and peace and quills, because God had a plan for it. When I started peace and quills, I just said, there and pray.

Sometimes I cry, sometimes I sing and it gives me joy to do that. By sitting there piecing the quills, it gives me a little joy just to sit there and sing and pray. talk to the Lord, tell him because he know he brought me from a long way. Oh, Jesus, Jesus is my only friend. Oh, Jesus, Jesus is my only friend.

Jesus is my only friend. Hey, Travis. Oh, I'm going to do that. I am a minister at Ye Shall Know the Truth Baptist Church in G-Stand, Alabama.

The Bible says, when God blesses, who God blesses, no man can curse. That's what it says. Amen. And if he curses you, can't anybody bless you? I'm going to be there for this week.

I'm going to be there. Hallelujah. As a child coming up, didn't have much, as you would say, hard of anything, okay? We were able to sing the song.

songs of Zion. That's why you may see me in my service now. I'm always talking about how good God is to me, what he brought us from. We love you, Jesus. We love you this morning.

We love you, God. We have 10,000 children. We can praise you, Lord. We thank you. Thank you for being real.

Thank you for being real. Prayer change things. What's going on wrong? You go to God, He change these things. You trust God for everything.

He believed in God. He had faith that God would take care. And he did.

You see, the slaves did sing. And that's where they get the joy from. They did sing.

And they did sing them old slave gospel songs. And they was proud of themselves to be able to sing with one another. That was the joy. Part of the way of living. You sing, you forget.

It makes joy in the heart to bring peace to the self. And singing and praising God was the best way to get that. Through all them years, having joy by singing.

Now we got joy up on the walls to look at. It's a blessing. It's a good feeling. What my mother taught me to do. Look where it ain't.

All in Texas, all in New York, all in Mobile, every which way. Look where it ain't. That's a good thing. That's a blessed thing. The part of religion here in Jesus being is that every parent, when they have kids, they teach their children that they should get religion.

So they can have religion and help them to live the true life of the Lord. And depending on the Lord, they take them to heaven. You have to live the life, though.

You can't just get religion and do nothing with it. You have to live. Thank you for the Lamb, the precious Lamb of God.

Because of your grace I can't exist right now. What a thing about the new generation. Thank you for the precious Lamb. Coming up for the main quiz, you got to go there, because they don't want it.

They don't care. They don't want to work. Just one or two. It's animated granddaughter. You don't have time to stop and sit down and piece up.

It takes time to sit down and put pieces together. They just want to do what they want to do. Play games, watch TV.

Have all the money in the pocket, get in the car, boom, boom, boom. Like I said, my little granddaughter, she comes over, she see me piecing up quill, and she stand up and look at me and say she wants to piece up quill. She want to learn how to piece up quill.

Some days I come from school, but I'm going to be back here sewing on the machine. Yeah. I stay here and watch, then I go back home.

She's trying to learn. You know, they find men that want to talk about what they want to do, but they ain't got time. No.

No. We thank God that he's here, and we thank God for carrying us on this journey. The art is so full of love and patriotism and hope. It's very moving, you know.

The rest of us can get cynical and angry. These people, of all people, should be, and they're not. The storm has passed over, here comes the rainbow and the sun.

I never dreamed that I would ever see the day, we could stand up to the world and proudly say, we finally got over, ooh, thank you Lord, we finally got over. Hi, I'm Noni. Hi, I'm Jackie. Very nice to meet you.

Yeah, good. I'm Jackie. Hi. Hi there. All right, there you are.

I'm very well, thank you. My name is David Gordon, and I'm the director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. And I wanted to welcome you to Milwaukee. Ziva!

Ooh, beautiful! This is beautiful! What's up, beautiful? Oh, look at this style! Ooh, gracious face, this big.

...where you're coming up to Milwaukee. People are really excited that you're here. We're going to get to the museum and let me just tell you what's going to happen tonight. We'll walk in and there will be a table with name tags and you'll meet some people from the...

the museum who will kind of be your personal host. For the first hour there'll be music and you have a chance to walk into the exhibition and take a look around and just talk with people. Most art shows, which are group shows, don't have the feeling of any unity between the different artists.

And this show has got it, which is extraordinary, given that the quilts are made, some are made as early as the 1930s and some as late as recent times. The wonder of these isn't that they're poor or not as well educated. That is a snobbish attitude. I mean, more than snobbish, it's a closed attitude.

Because what these quilts are is a level of sophistication that no art academy can teach. The whole community here is the Academy. There's two reasons why this show is so important.

One is the art. It's the quilts. Seeing the compositions, the bold patterns, the asymmetry, these quilts are fantastic works of art.

What you're seeing is things that came out of the women's mind. They had no influences. A lot of people made connections with these works and works of modern contemporary art. They didn't know Barnett Newman's work. They didn't know Joseph Alper's work.

These designs came out of their heads. And I want to make sure that we all... know and give them that agency. These are the artists who created this work. They're not copying anybody else.

This came out of their soul, and this came out of their heart, and this is what they created. Second, it's Gee's Bend, the story of Gee's Bend, and the history of Gee's Bend. The stories behind these quilts are what make them talk to people.

The stories such as Missouri Petways quilt in which she took all of the clothing that her husband owned after his his death. And she asked her daughter, Arlonzia, to help her rip up the pieces of clothing and to make a quilt out of them. She said, I'm going to take every piece of clothing that he has and make a quilt out of it to wrap myself in when I miss him. And it's such a poignant story. And then you look at the quilt and realize that's everything he owned.

So you're really learning about the lives of these women, the lives of these community. Well, the only thing that people had then was dress tails and britches. Like I told you, and took an old lot of pants and leg and old britches and leg and old dress tail. You'll find all of that being used, but that's because that's what was available.

When they took those and made things out of them, it's the same as a white artist carving marble. A quilt is like a Rosetta Stone. There's a language to it that needs to be decoded. To begin with, most of the forms are abstracted from life, which is what most abstract art in the world is.

Abstraction is an ancient thing, not a modern thing. And in Gee's Bend... Like in other places, women's quilt patterns came from life.

The housetop, which is squares and forms within a square, is actually, was first, I imagine, a woman lying in bed looking up at the ceiling at the rafters and the pattern they formed and making it and calling it a housetop. You could lay down in your house and you ain't had to go out the door to see the stars and the clouds. They express a joy and a wonderment that makes you glad to be part of the human race.

And I think that's a role of art to be inspiring. And these are just quilts. I mean, all it is is fabric stitched together. I mean, think of that.

It's inanimate material that has a life force. I can take you in hundreds and hundreds of old, abandoned black shacks, some of which predate the 20th century, and you'll see those newspapered walls that look just as good as any Cubist artist did. I mean, they didn't just slap newspapers indiscriminately on the walls. They made collages. And then they sat down and made quilts that reflected that aesthetic.

Mary Lee Bendolph is one of our exceptional women quilters here today. She was born in 1935. Tell me the story of the ferry, because I understand that the ferry service was canceled because people in Gee's Bend got a little uppity during the Civil Rights Movement, am I right? Yeah, because of the Civil Rights.

They moved the ferry. That's what I said. They did it because they didn't want us to become a registered voter. Going to Camden, every day there'd be the Comrade's Devotee.

So finally we made it, and we got over there. When we got over there, we went to the church. And when we got at the church, they threw tear gas on us.

We came out and stood there singing and praying. Nummy, you never can't jail us all. Oh, Lamy, you never can tell us all.

Okay, go ahead. Mary Lee has her mother's prophetic dreaming. Tell us the story of Dr. Martin Luther King. When you were, you had a dream that somebody important was coming. It turned out to be King.

How did I get involved with Martin Luther King? It was enough. In a dream I had, I had been dreaming that dream and dreaming the dream. I didn't know what it was all about.

He helped got the people, you know, rotted up that they can get something to do something on their own without depending on the white man for everything to be done. The Freedom Quilting Bee was a women's sewing co-op started by Reverend Walters in 1966. He had started it as a response. To the criticism that the civil rights workers came but then left and didn't do anything that was lasting.

They just came and marched and were heard, but they didn't really stay and take the heat that they had to take when people left and had the problems of being kicked off their land or losing their jobs because they had marched or tried to register to vote. Boys, blow up. Giff came from Martin Luther King for the building of this scripture.

Yes, he did. He sure enough did. He was furthest, and that's why we named him, because he was the furthest from Giff.

That's why we named him the Freedom Quitter. That's how he come by here tonight. They couldn't be with me always, a part of me.

Because it's the first place I ever went to get a check. I didn't know what check was for myself until it could be come to. And then when it couldn't be called, I went to getting paid by a check.

We thought that was real money because we wasn't used to getting anything. We thought it was real money. And they gave us $12 a piece and we worked and worked and worked before I left.

I was getting $15 a week. I think the Freedom Quilting Bee in its day was a really noble effort to bring money to the community and to find a way of marketing their talents outside the community. Artistically, it wasn't something that fortunately affected the creativity of the women.

I mean, it was a cottage industry in which women came together from all the little surrounding communities and created patterns based on designs that were posted on the wall, so everyone had to do the same. And they had, because places like Bloomingdale's that were ordering these quilts and other kinds of catalog sale organization. Had to have a standardized product.

You had to make the stitches really little in order to keep the business going, because if you didn't make them stitches little in, that quilt would come back, and you have to keep it in a straight row. The kind of quilts they made down here were not acceptable at the Freedom Quilting Bee, and the woman that you know who lives the closest to where the Freedom Quilting Bee was, was Annie Mae Young, and they wouldn't let her work there, because they said her stitches... were too uneven and her work was too sloppy, as it were.

Why did they? They didn't like my quilting because the stitching was too long. I didn't quilt neat enough. So she stayed home, made her own things, and she's one of the great artists in America.

I loved the exhibit in New York. I drove here from Chicago to see it again and to meet the women. Oh, it's fabulous.

I mean, it's really interesting because it's like going to see a modern art show, really. I mean, you have like abstract modernism, but then you look at the people that did it and where it all came from. I mean, it's just fabulous. It really reflects a true artist's heart and the spirit of an artist.

Yeah, the real masterpiece is art, you know. They are amazing. I'm really, really amazed about this. I've never seen something like this. Thank you.

Come on in. There's a big crowd already in there. This is such an honor. I mean, it really is.

To meet your family and whatnot. My god. We wanted to know what the Haters of G's men wanted for themselves.

And what they wanted was the recognition now due to them as artists. They wanted to be able to do some sightseeing, and they wanted to be able to sing. And tonight, we're able to let them sing.

So, can I ask the White Rose Choir, please, to come to the stage. Somebody knocking at your door. Somebody knocking at your door.

Oh, oh, say, oh, why don't you answer? Somebody knocking at your door. Somebody...

This is my last opportunity to say goodbye to all of you. As I said last night, we've so much enjoyed having you. And we've sort of all fallen in love with each other. So we have to keep this going.

We want you all to come back. And we'll certainly be coming to Gee's Bend to see you there. And we wanted you to have the opportunity to have a, since it's Sunday, for you to have a service if you wanted one before you got on the bus.

So if you'd like to do that. I got the opportunity. Thank you. You just look where he brought me from. You just look where he brought me from.

He brought me out of darkness into the marvelous light. Look where he brought me from. Look where he brought me from.

Look where he brought me from. He brought me out of the dark into tomorrow's light. Look where he brought me from. He brought me.

He brought me. Yes, he did. He placed my feet on solid ground.

He's brought me. And I'm so glad he's brought me. Oh, hey! He's brought me. I'm so glad he's brought me.

He's brought me. He's brought me. Just look where he brought me. from. Oh, yeah. Just look where he brought me from.

Oh, he brought me out of darkness into the farthest light. Just look where he brought me from. Amen. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Many years I keep calling, calling through this storm and rain. I've been patiently waiting, waiting for my blessed Lord, Lord.

Coming home, coming home, lead me through the path of sin, yes, hide me in his love.

Transcript for:Gee's Bend Quilts and Community

Transcript for:
Gee's Bend Quilts and Community