Article in Montgomery Advertiser About Quilt Exhibit

In yesterday's (June 28, 2014) Montgomery Advertiser an Associated Press article by Katherine Roth was in the "My Life" section, titled "Textiles convey complexity of the Civil War".

The article described what I blogged about on June 17 - the exhibit at the New York Historical Society on textiles, "Homefront and Battlefield: Quilts and Context in the Civil War", organized by the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts.

If you would like to read the article, click on this link: 

https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140628/entlife/140628624/

The article mentions our Gunboat Quilt, although it does not credit the First White House of the Confederacy. It is really nice to know our Gunboat Quilt is being seen by hundreds of people across America. It was first exhibited in the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts (June 30, 2012 – Nov. 25, 2012). Currently it is showing at the New York Historical Society (April 4 – Aug 31, 2014.) Then it goes to the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont (Sept 20, 2014 – Jan 1, 2015), and lastly will show at the Great Plains Art Museum on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Feb 1, 2015 – June 1, 2015).  Another big plus is that our quilt was conserved while it was there waiting to be shown!!!

Our Confederate Gunboat Quilt in New York

As many know our Gunboat Quilt has been in a traveling exhibit since 2011 called "Homefront and Battlefield: Quilts and Context in the Civil War", organized by the American  Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts. The exhibit is on view in the New York Historical Society in New York City through August 24th.

There is an Associated Press article about the exhibit June 17 in the Washington Post. In addition to quilts, the exhibit includes clothing, uniforms and other Civil War-era textiles, but the article points out that "the quilts are what steals the show".  

I am so proud of our wonderful quilt and so happy that it is being shared with scores of people throughout the Eastern seaboard. It has a story to tell, that of the brave women of the Confederacy who did their part to aid in the cause in which they believed.

Here is the link if you would like to read the article and see our quilt! Click below.

Textiles convey emotions, complexity of Civil War

Washington Post

The Tragic Death of Joseph Davis, Five Year Old Son of President

Our friend and tour guide from the Second White House in Richmond, Conway Moncure was in Montgomery recently, and we discussed the tragic loss of Jefferson Davis's son, Joseph, who died from a fall outside the Presidential Mansion in Richmond in 1864.

As a follow-up to our conversation Conway sent me an April 30th, 2014 article from the Richmond newspaper titled "The Civil War 150th", from the pages of the Daily Dispatch on today's date in 1864.


  The article was titled " Fatal Accident - A son of President Davis killed by a fall" and reads: "about five o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, April 30, Joseph E. Davis, who had been playing about the yard earlier was missed, and in a short time he was found lying in an insensible condition on the brick area below the east portico of the residence, with his left thigh broken and a severe contusion on his forehead."

 The article goes on "The exact cause of the unfortunate accident is not known, but as there was a step-ladder leading from the area in the yard to the porch above, a distance of from fifteen to twenty feet, it is conjectured that he was standing near its top, and losing his balance, fell over into the yard below." Funeral Services were held on May 1 from St. Paul's Episcopal Church.


The Rice University Papers of Jefferson Davis report that Joe was an exceptionally bright child, who was named after Jefferson Davis's brother Joseph, even though Varina protested, as she "deeply resented Joseph Davis". Rumors persisted that the child was pushed by his older brother Jeff Jr., but there is no evidence to support this story. Little Joe was buried in Hollywood Cemetery "where the rest of his family would eventually be interred."




This was just another terrible tragedy in the life of Jefferson Davis, whose four sons preceded him in death as well as his first wife after only three months of marriage.

Jefferson Davis's Birthday at First White House Confederacy

Tuesday, June 3, 2014 marked Jefferson Davis's 206th birthday at the First White House of the Confederacy.  A good crowd attended the 11:00 am speech and celebration honoring the first and only President of the Confederate States of America. As most readers know, the First White House in Montgomery was the executive residence of President Davis and family while the capital of the Confederacy was in Montgomery, Alabama.


David Tyrone Crowley of Prattville, Alabama was the speaker for the commemoration. Mr. Crowley is a retired Professor of Language from Prattville, Alabama. who spent the last twenty years with the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, where he served as instructor and course director at the Foreign Officers School. His wife Carol was in the audience.


Mr.. Crowley spoke first to the children present, telling them the story of Jim Limber, an African American child who was being abused by his caretaker.  Mrs. Davis, upon seeing this, took him home with her to live with them as one of their "adopted" sons.

This brief talk was followed by heartfelt remarks about the President. Crowley said that Jefferson Davis could have had his civil rights restored but he refused to repent, because he thought the South was in the right. Davis said if he had it all to do over, he would have done the same thing again, saying,  "he would never call the Civil War a 'lost cause' ".

Dressed in period dress, Crowley read from comments Davis made to a joint session of the Mississippi Legislature in Jackson, Miss. on March 10, 1884. Davis died in 1889. It was a most fitting way to commemorate the  anniversary of the birth of this great Confederate leader who was born in 1808.

 Mr. Crowley had the honor of portraying Jefferson Davis at the reenactment of Davis's Inauguration  in Montgomery on February 19, 2011, after having done a dress rehearsal at the First White House the day before.