1870 - 1880 Betty West's "Nurse's" Quilt Top
Object Details
- West, Betty
- Description
- Five 24-inch pieced 8-Pointed Star blocks and four Railroad Crossing blocks were constructed using 27 different printed cottons. This quilt top was made about 1879 by Betty West, who was employed by Leonides C. Campbell and his wife, Mary, as a nurse for their children.
- One of the children, Mary C. Watkins, wrote in 1939: “Betty West, our Negro nurse, made this quilt for my brother Kennedy and me. The many stitches made by stiff old fingers showes the real love she had for the two white children entrusted to her care. I treasured the quilt & have kept it all these years in loving memory of her.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy C. Watkins
- 1870-1880
- ID Number
- TE.T17773.00A
- accession number
- 315496
- catalog number
- T17773A
- Object Name
- quilt
- Physical Description
- fabric, cotton (overall material)
- thread, cotton (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 87 in x 86 in; 220 cm x 218 cm
- place made
- United States: District of Columbia
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Textiles
- Quilts
- Textiles
- Domestic Furnishings
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Quilting
- Record ID
- nmah_556581
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a3-c276-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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