Re: “Threads of life” [Dec. 10, Opinion]:
I wish to thank Opinion columnist Carlton Winfrey for the fascinating and provoking article on Jim Tharpe’s great-great-grandmother’s quilts.
What extraordinary synchronicity introduced Winfrey and Tharpe collectively to disclose such the same household story! I used to be captivated by the story of Mollie Barnes and the distinctive parallel with Winfrey’s personal great-great-great-grandmother, Mary Corder Williams, each former slave girls from Tennessee. I used to be additional moved by the story of Winfrey and Tharpe’s journey dwelling collectively.
Mollie’s quilts are artistry, historical past and dwelling historical past. Like others, I’m so grateful that her household made certain to maintain them collectively and preserved all this time. Ever a lover of vintage quilts, I’ve by no means skilled the resonance and significance of a group like this and envy Winfrey’s alternative to have seen them. It’s unlucky that some historians select to doubt the legitimacy of oral historical past and dispute the existence of Underground Railroad quilts, which at the least a number of of the Mollies might have been.
I really hope that Tharpe realizes her want (and ours) for the quilts to be stored collectively, appreciated, exhibited and shared throughout the nation, with even perhaps an exhibit in Seattle in the future.
Lisa deFaria, Poulsbo