USPS Honors Quiltmaker Harriet Powers with New Stamps
The U.S. Postal Service has issued a new set of commemorative stamps celebrating Harriet Powers, a formerly enslaved 19th-century quiltmaker. Her famous story quilts are recognized as a major contribution to American folk art and African-American heritage.
Only two of Harriet Powers' remarkable story quilts are known to survive today. The "Bible Quilt," created around 1886, now resides in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, while the "Pictorial Quilt," from 1898, is housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The new USPS Forever stamps feature four designs, all showcasing panels from her "Pictorial Quilt." This quilt blends biblical scenes, like the story of Jonah, with depictions of local folklore and celestial events such as the 1833 Leonid meteor shower. Powers utilized a technique with West African roots called appliqué, which involves stitching cut-out fabric shapes onto a larger background. Her "Bible Quilt" is composed of 11 panels and 299 separate pieces of fabric, all sewn together by both hand and machine. Born into slavery in 1837 near Athens, Georgia, Powers was emancipated after the Civil War and became a landowner with her husband, Armstead Powers, with whom she had at least nine children. She gained public recognition after exhibiting her "Bible Quilt" at the Athens Cotton Fair in 1886. Initially, Powers refused to sell the "Bible Quilt" to Jennie Smith, a local artist, but relented years later due to financial hardship, selling it for $5. Before the sale, Powers explained each panel's story to Smith, who documented the descriptions in her diary, preserving their narratives. The "Pictorial Quilt" was a commissioned work, requested by the wives of Atlanta University faculty members as a gift for a university board vice president. It remained in the family for over six decades before being recognized as a national treasure.
