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Beatrice Ruth Calhoun Williamson

Quiltmaker

  Texarkana, Arkansas, United States    

Black Diaspora Quilt History Project

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Beatrice Ruth Calhoun Williamson, “Ruth” was born and lived most of her life in Texarkana, Arkansas. She married William Williamson in 1910. Their first child, a son, died in the influenza epidemic in 1917. A daughter, Maxine, was born in 1919. Maxine grew up and married Woodrow Wilson, and moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Maxine Wilson owned and then sold the quilts made by her mother, Ruth. It is believed this quilt was made as a result of a political shift from black people traditionally voting Republican after Emancipation to Democratic leanings during the Roosevelt terms in response to the Great Depression. Black voters were feeling more and more disenfranchised by the Republican party and shifted their political allegiance to the Democratic party in the name of self-interest, because of Roosevelt work programs (WPA) such as CCC, TVA, and FWP.

Occupation (if retired, former occupation):

Homemaker, laborer

Where was the quiltmaker born?

Texarkana, Arkansas (AR), United States

Where did the quiltmaker grow up?

Rural

Father's ethnic/tribal background:

African American

Spouse's/Spouses' name(s):

Williamson, William

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