1940-1949

Janet E. Finley Collection of Quilt History Photographs

Silver Gelatin Print, dated 1943
Photographer: Joe Clark
Size: 8" x 10"

On September 5, 1934, The Detroit News published a series of Joe Clark's Tennessee photographs in the paper's Pictorial section, a weekly magazine that accompanied the Sunday Edition. Joe Clark, a free-lance photographer working in Detroit, was born in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. Using a Kodak camera, he was called the "Hill-Billy Snap Shooter" for his photographs depicting the life and times of his Appalacian family and friends. Joe's mother (seated left), his Aunt Nora Treece (seated center), and her daughter Julie (seated right), are working on a Cactus Basket or Half Star quilt. Joe Clark wrote in the accompanying photo essay, "Since several persons may work together on a quilt, this enables the busy mountain women to keep their fingers flying while indulging in the social relaxation of visiting." He continued, "When neighbors call, it is not unusual for the woman of the house to let down the quilting frame from the ceiling, where it has been wound up out of the way, and have her quilting friends continue willingly on the work." You can see one of the ropes, positioned in front of Aunt Nora, used to suspend the quilting frame. Storing the quilting frame at the ceiling is a distinct Southern Style.
Photo taken by Joe Clark, Detroit, Michigan, 1943. From The Detroit News archives. Courtesy of Janet Finley.

-- With permission of the publisher, excerpted from Janet E. Finley, Quilts in EveryDay Life 1855-1955 (Schiffer Publishing, 2012).