Jim Tharpe, owner and exhibitor of the “Hartsfield African American Slave Quilts,” presented at The Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson earlier this month. His book is also available for purchase at the museum. Here he stands in front of the 1867 Hope quilt made by his great-great-grandmother, Ms. Molly. Ms. Molly quilted this one purposely without a backing until all Black people were truly free.
The graduation quilt Tharpe received as a gift from his grandmother. The symbolism on the quilt, used by the Underground Railroad: Green for love, safety, family; the night sky and stars for navigation; ducks on gold represent migration and bounty; Route 66 represents the map forward.
The graduation quilt Tharpe received as a gift from his grandmother. The symbolism on the quilt, used by the Underground Railroad: Green for love, safety, family; the night sky and stars for navigation; ducks on gold represent migration and bounty; Route 66 represents the map forward.
Jim Tharpe, owner and exhibitor of the “Hartsfield African American Slave Quilts,” presented at The Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson earlier this month. His book is also available for purchase at the museum.
The Crossroads quilt has a distinct area of green blocks. To the untrained eye Tharpe explained it could seem odd, like the quilt maker ran out of fabric, but the symbol of green was love, peace and safety to those who knew. The main crossroad was Cleveland, Ohio, where slaves would travel for a route to freedom.
Jim Tharpe, owner and exhibitor of the “Hartsfield African American Slave Quilts,” presented at The Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson earlier this month. His book is also available for purchase at the museum. Here he stands in front of the 1867 Hope quilt made by his great-great-grandmother, Ms. Molly. Ms. Molly quilted this one purposely without a backing until all Black people were truly free.
Chelsea Marr photo
Hartsfield African American slave quilts are on display through the end of June at the Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson.
Chelsea Marr photo
The graduation quilt Tharpe received as a gift from his grandmother. The symbolism on the quilt, used by the Underground Railroad: Green for love, safety, family; the night sky and stars for navigation; ducks on gold represent migration and bounty; Route 66 represents the map forward.
Chelsea Marr photo
The graduation quilt Tharpe received as a gift from his grandmother. The symbolism on the quilt, used by the Underground Railroad: Green for love, safety, family; the night sky and stars for navigation; ducks on gold represent migration and bounty; Route 66 represents the map forward.
Chelsea Marr photo
Jim Tharpe, owner and exhibitor of the “Hartsfield African American Slave Quilts,” presented at The Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson earlier this month. His book is also available for purchase at the museum.
STEVENSON — Hartsfield African American slave quilts are on display through the end of June at the Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson. Each one tells a story of pain and oppression, family love and the fight for freedom.
Jim Tharpe, a descendant of Black American slaves, has made it his mission to share his family story and exhibit a one-of-a-kind family quilt collection. Tharpe introduced the collection during its grand opening at the museum earlier this month.
His care and understanding of each quilt resonates. Each is a story woven in fabric, with each piece, color and pattern telling the story of the family. Tharpe is the owner of these slave quilts that were created by his family over four generations. Quilts that date back to 1850 and many were created before 1920. Tharpe is fifth generation.
Tharpe’s great-great-grandmother lived as a slave in Paris/Whitlock, Tenn., who Tharpe respectfully refers to as “Ms. Molly;” she was enslaved at 13 years old.
The quilts were passed down through family members before making their way to Tharpe — who is the son of Verna Hartsfield Tharpe and grandson of Lena Hartsfield, Ms. Molly’s granddaughter. The oldest quilt in the collection made by Ms. Molly still shows original bloodstains. Ms. Molly had five children, two fathered by her slave master.
The Crossroads quilt has a distinct area of green blocks. To the untrained eye Tharpe explained it could seem odd, like the quilt maker ran out of fabric, but the symbol of green was love, peace and safety to those who knew. The main crossroad was Cleveland, Ohio, where slaves would travel for a route to freedom.
Chelsea Marr photo
Ms. Molly was raised to be a seamstress and even at 13 years old, she had the skill of the trade. Ms. Molly’s quilting and work as a seamstress were qualifications she used for survival — if you were a seamstress, you avoided working in the fields, so it was one you taught your children to give them a life.
“She understood that the Underground Railroad quilts had meaning,” Tharpe said. “And that if she saved those, the family would understand the meaning that symbolism of freedom …”
The slave community knew how to “read” the quilts, though many could not read or write. The quilt message and symbols allowed communication with the Underground Railroad and the slave community.
A quilt was more than a way to keep warm; it also marked safe houses, where a person could get food and rest. It might be on display on a clothesline in a yard along a road or hanging in a window.
“I mean, my grandmother used to tell people this [quilt] used to be a neon sign,” he said. “... A clothesline was inconspicuous … And at the end of the day, this was secret messaging, something that you can be open about.”
Quilts were not just used on beds, but hung over furniture, used on the ground for a family dinner or in the plantation field for a baby to play on. They were wrapped around people for warmth walking to church or traveling. If a slave couple was married and it was not legal, a wedding quilt shared the news. And when a quilt became too ragged to use, it was taken apart and the scraps reused to make a new one.
The Railroad Crossing quilt uses many codes in creating this pattern. Its wear and tear is a sign of the important use.
Chelsea Marr photo
Tharpe received a quilt from his grandmother when he graduated high school and he explained the many messages in this quilt. “… These patterns and what they mean, you have to understand their symbols … If you understand the symbol, then you can understand what it was trying to represent,” he said.
Ms. Molly made a Hope quilt that was a replica of the President Lincoln quilt pattern. Tharpe learned his grandmother had memorized the pattern in the store, overhearing what it stood for. Tharpe said, “This quilt was made right after the Civil War. So, she had no family at all. But she created a family, from all of these pieces are people who lived in her area, and said, ‘We are family. We will live. But we are not free yet,’ so she never put the back on the quilt ...”
Tharpe calls Ms. Molly a true American, saying, “ …She had belief that her life could change for the better. And if nothing else for her family, she believed she understood the challenges between the south and the north, black and white. But she also believed that a lot of it could be overcome if they stuck together.”
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