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Freedom Song

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-6765

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Women of Color Quilters Network; Quilts and Human Rights

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

15.0149

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

2014:55.76

Essay:

Artist Statement about work: This quilt was used for the Chrysler world of works program. Chrysler world let me travel to elementary and middle school once a wee for an hour to talk to the children about the art of quiltmaking, mostly during black history month.

There are 5 panels of text on the quilt (Left to Right):
Panel 1: Slavery Time Line
1501 African Slaves in the New World Spanish settlers bring slaves from Africa to Santo Domingo (now the capital of the Dominican Republic).
1522 Slave Revolt: the Caribbean Slaves rebel on the Caribbean island of Hispanola, which now compromises Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
1562 Britain joins Slave Trade John Hawkins, the first Briton to take part in the slave trade, makes a huge profit hauling human cargo from Africa to Hispanola.
1581 Slaves in Florida Spanish residents in St. Augustine, the first permanent settlement in Florida, import African slaves
1619 Slaves in Virginia Africans brought to Jamestown are the first slaves imported into Britain's new American colonies. Like indentured servants, they were probably freed after a period of service.
1622 Hereditary Slavery Virginia law decrees the children of black mothers "shall be bond or free according to the condition of the mother."
1705 Slaves as property describing slaves as real estate, Virginia lawmakers allow owners to bequeath their slaves. The same law allowed masters to "kill and destroy" runaways.
1712 Slave Revolt: New York Slaves in New York City kill whites during an uprising, later squelched by the militia. Nineteen rebels are executed.
1739 Slave Revolt: South Carolina Crying "Liberty!" some 75 slaves in South Carolina steal weapons and flee toward freedom in Florida (then under Spanish rule). Crushed by the South Carolina militia, the revolt results in the deaths of 40 blacks and 20 whites.
1775 American Revolution begins Battles at the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord on April 19 spark the war for American independence from Britain
1775 Abolitionist society Anthony Benezet of Philadelphia founds the world's first abolition society. Benjamin Franklin becomes its president in 1787.
1776 Declaration of Independence The Continental Congress asserts "that these United Colonies are, and of right out to be Free and Independent State."
1783 American Revolution ends Britain and the infant United States sign the Peace of Paris treaty.
1784 Abolition effort congress narrowly defeats Thomas Jefferson's proposal to ban slavery in new territories after 1800
1790 First United States census nearly 700,000 slaves live and toil in a nation of 3.9 million people
1793 Fugitive Slave Act the United Sates outlaws any efforts to impede the capture of runaway slaves.
1794 Cotton Gin Eli Whitney patents his device for pulling seeds from cotton. The invention turns cotton into the cash crop of the American South - and creates a huge demand for slave trade
1808- United States bans slave trade importing African slaves is outlawed, but smuggling continues
1820- Missouri Compromise Missouri is admitted to the Union, as a slave state, Maine as a free state. Slavery is forbidden in any subsequent territories north of latitude 36'30'
1822 Slave Revolt: South Carolina freed slave Denmark Vesey attempts a rebellion in Charleston. Thirty-five participants in the ill-faced uprising are hanged.
1831 Slave Revolt: Virginia slave preacher Nat Turner leads a two-day uprising against whites, killing about 6. Militiamen crush the revolt then spend two months searching for Turner, who is eventually caught and hanged. Enraged Southerners impose harsher restrictions on their slaves.
1835 Censorship southern states expel abolitionists and forbid the mailing of antislavery propoganda
1846 -48 Mexican-American War defeated, Mexico yields an enormous amount of territory to the United States. Americans then wrestle with a controversial topic: Is slavery permitted in the new lands?
1847 Frederick Douglass's newspaper escaped slave Frederick Douglass begins publishing the North Star in Rochester, New York.
1849 Harriet Tubman escapes after fleeing slavery, Tubman returns south at least 15 times to help rescues several hundred others.
1850 Compromise of 1850 in exchange for California's entering the Union as a free state, northern congressmen accept a harsher Fugitive Slave Act
1852 Uncle Tom's Cabin published Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel about the horrors of slavery sells 300,000 copies within a year of publication
1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act Setting aside the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Congress allows these two new territories to choose whether to allow slavery. Violent clashes erupt.
1857 Dred Scott decision The United States Supreme Court decides, seven to two, that blacks can never be citizens and that Congress has no authority to outlaw slavery in any territory
1860 Abraham Lincoln of Illinois becomes the first Republican to win the United States presidency. 1860 Southern secession South Carolina secedes in December. More states follow the next year.
1861-65 United States Civil War four years of brutal conflict claim 623, 000 lives
1863 Emancipation Proclamation President Abraham Lincoln decrees that all slaves in rebel territory are free on January 1, 1863.
1865 Slavery abolished The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution outlaws slavery

Panel 2: The United State Constitution 13 Amendment

Panel 3: The United States Constitution 14 Amendment

Panel 4: The United States Constitution 15 Amendment

Panel 5: The Emancipation Proclamation By the President of the United States of America

The quilt also includes African Americans who have fought for freedom: like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and African American soldiers who have fought in the Civil War. There is also a photograph of Abraham Lincoln.

Quilt's title:

Freedom Song

Subject of the quilt:

Slavery

Who helped you fill out the form?

Aleia Brown

When was the form filled out?

3/2/2015

Quilt top made by:

Shipp, April Anue

Quilted by:

Shipp, April Anue

Where the quilt was made, city:

Rochester Hills

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt finished?

1999

Quilt is presently used as:

Artwork/wall hanging

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group? Name of the group?

Women of Color Quilters Network

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

58 1/2"

How long is the quilt?

41 3/8"

Shape of edge:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Black; Red; White

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

Type of inscription:

Date; Message; Place; Single Inscription

What is inscribed on the quilt?

"Freedom Song" 1999 April Anue Shipp Michigan

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1999

Describe the method used to inscribe the quilt:

Handwritten

Location of inscription:

on back

Describe where the inscription was found:

Bottom right

Describe the quilt's layout:

Pictorial

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

Red border- 1 1/8"

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Machine Piecing

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Photography/photo transfer

Embellishments used:

Cotton thread

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

How is the binding made?

Front turned to back

What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?

half inch - one inch

How wide is the binding (measure on the top only)?

1/2"

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cotton

How thick is the quilt?

Thin

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Has been exhibited at local schools and churches.

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt collector

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public- Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's name:

Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

From the Collection of Carolyn Mazloomi

Details

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Who photographed this quilt?

Pearl Yee Wong

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum, all rights reserved

Cite this Quilt

Shipp, April Anu. Freedom Song. 1999. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Women of Color Quilters Network; Quilts and Human Rights. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-6765. Accessed: 03/28/24

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