Cuesta Benberry: 83, Historian of Quilting, Dies
Cuesta Benberry, one of the leading historians and archivists of American quilting, whose research made it clear that the contribution of black artists to the form reflected more than patterns drawn from their African roots, died on Aug. 23 in St. Louis. She was 83.
Her death was announced by the American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan, to which, in 2004, Ms. Benberry donated her vast collection of research papers, historical books, museum catalogs, periodicals and original patterns that covered more than two centuries of quilting history.
Her collection included an array of patterns, from those typical of Colonial America, with their large single images like a Tree of Life or a medallion centered on a sheet of hand-woven whole cloth, to the variety of fabrics pieced together in blocks that became available as the nation’s textile industry blossomed in the 1800s.
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Her death was announced by the American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan, to which, in 2004, Ms. Benberry donated her vast collection of research papers, historical books, museum catalogs, periodicals and original patterns that covered more than two centuries of quilting history.
Her collection included an array of patterns, from those typical of Colonial America, with their large single images like a Tree of Life or a medallion centered on a sheet of hand-woven whole cloth, to the variety of fabrics pieced together in blocks that became available as the nation’s textile industry blossomed in the 1800s.