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Aunt Jemima's Debu: I'se in town, honey!

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-6787

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Women of Color Quilters Network; Quilts and Human Rights; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

15.0181

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

2014:55.70

Essay:

1899 was the year that the hideous smile of a cartoonish mammy first appeared on a sack of pancake flour. Aunt Jemima was not born from a womb but in the mind of a post-bellum ideologist longing for a nostalgia whose very existence is in debate.

Aunt Jemima was used to sell a way of life. The war was over and the reconstruction of the South had begun. A stereotypical happy slave totally devoted to the service of her White family was sold with the promise that the buyer could appropriate the leisure, beauty, and racial/class status of the plantation south just by purchasing a box of pancake flour. Aunt Jemima served as a guide to that lost paradise where White men were gallant, White women were unburdened in the kitchen, and their children played happily around cheerful Black servants who would never leave.

Aunt Jemima was based on the partially fictional attributes of the Black southern mammy. The goal of the advertisement was to remove every trace of White female labor by employing Blacks to represent the product. Aunt Jemima was the queen of the kitchen and her place in the kitchen is the key to understanding her place in White southern ideology. Black women in the kitchen kept White women out of it, defining not only the proper place of Black women but White women as well. She reminded America of the proper order of race relations. The use of the perjorative quality of Blackness was really an act of creating Whiteness, reminding Whites that regardless of whatever trails they faced at work or at home, they were uplifted by their race. Quaker Oats can move her off the plantation, take off her bandana, and dilute her form but Aunt Jemima remains in the 21st century what she was in the 19th century, a Black woman bought and sold.
-- by Tracey Rico

Quilt's title:

Aunt Jemima's Debu: I'se in town, honey!

Subject of the quilt:

Aunt Jemima, Black representation

Who helped you fill out the form?

Aleia Brown

When was the form filled out?

3/3/2015

Quilt top made by:

Rico, Tracey

Quilted by:

Rico, Tracey

Where the quilt was made, city:

Los Angeles

Where the quilt was made, state:

California (CA)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Time period:

2000-2025

When was the quilt finished?

2000

Quilt is presently used as:

Artwork/wall hanging

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

African American

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group? Name of the group?

Women of Color Quilters Network

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

61"

How long is the quilt?

64"

Shape of edge:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Black; Red; Yellow; White

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

Describe the damage:

Some of the rag dolls sewn onto the quilt are very fragile due to age and use.

Type of inscription:

Single Inscription

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Jade Rico

Describe the method used to inscribe the quilt:

Beaded

Describe where the inscription was found:

Front, bottom right black border

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

16

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by sashing with cornerstones or connecting blocks

Number of borders:

2

Describe the borders:

Black border 4", Gray border 3 1/2"

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton; Silk

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Dotted; Print

Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:

Quilt is comprised of Vintage Aunt Jemima dolls, the oldest dates to 1897. There are also vintage dish towels.

Embellishments used:

Cotton thread

How is the binding made?

Front turned to back

What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?

less than a half inch

How wide is the binding (measure on the top only)?

1/8"

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cotton

How thick is the quilt?

Medium

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting; Machine quilting

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Quilting African American Women's History: Our Challenges, Creativity, and Champions
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center 2006
National Civil Rights Museum 2002
The Puck Building, New York, NY 2001
Rush Art Gallery, New York, NY 2001

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt collector

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public- Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's name:

Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

From the Collection of Carolyn Mazloomi

Who photographed this quilt?

Pearl Yee Wong

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum, all rights reserved

Cite this Quilt

Rico, Trace. Aunt Jemima's Debu: I'se in town, honey!. 2000. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Women of Color Quilters Network; Quilts and Human Rights; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-6787. Accessed: 03/28/24