On Thursday, April 30th at 5:00, Sumac Cottage and Black Belt Workshop welcome historian Sarah Bliss Wright for her presentation, “Alabama Cotton and Bemis Bags, Pieced into Quilt History.” She will trace the evolution of cotton bags from a rural-household convenience, to a Depression Era necessity, to a wartime way of life, to an urban repurposing fad.
Feedsack quilts represent the artistic expression of American women in a distinctive textile era, 1930–1960, when such bed coverings were created from colorful, patterned fabrics that started out as feed or flour sacks. Many of these textile bags had their genesis in the cotton fields of Alabama because Bemis Bro. Bag Company, the largest textile bag manufacturer in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century, operated a cotton mill and bag plant in Bemiston, Alabama.
Sumac Cottage will open at 5:00, with the lecture beginning around 5:15. A reception will follow.
This event is free to all and is made possible by the Alabama Humanities Foundation through a Road Scholars grant. “We’re honored to support nonprofits that use the humanities to make Alabama a better place to live,” says Chuck Holmes, Alabama Humanities Alliance’s executive director. “These grants help recipients bring the past to life, highlight our vibrant culture, connect us to each other, and help us better understand this dynamic and complex state we all call home.”
Sumac Cottage is located at 1107 South Street in downtown Greensboro, AL. Parking is available along Market Street and in the public lot behind the Greensboro Opera House.
