Rachel May is the author of Quilting with a Modern Slant, a 2014 Library Journal and Amazon.com Best Book of the Year. Her writing has received multiple awards, and she's been awarded residencies at the Millay Colony and the Vermont Studio Center. She's an assistant professor at Northern Michigan University and lives in Marquette, Michigan.
"In this far-reaching history, the discovery of an unfinished
antebellum quilt becomes an investigation of the fragile scraps of
documents used to make its backing. A meticulous and insightful
account of slavery’s role in early mercantile America."
*New Yorker*
"Deeply researched and vividly written, May’s creative achievement
casts new light on the often ignored contributions enslaved people
made to American society."
*Booklist (starred)*
"While acclaimed writer Rachel May was studying a textile
collection, she stumbled on an unfinished quilt that took her on a
journey from the Caribbean to New England and into the dark depths
of slavery. May decided to piece together this history, which she
unveils in this rich book. An American Quilt drives home
how little we actually know about slavery—and how much history we
can still uncover."
*Bitch Magazine*
"An American Quilt is a scholarly accomplishment."
*Clyde Fitch Report*
"May draws both history lessons and intimate secrets from her
analysis of letters and domestic objects in the antebellum world.
Her commitment to recovering the experiences of the enslaved people
at the story’s heart is admirable."
*Publishers Weekly*
"May follows the footsteps of Linda Lipsett and Cuesta Benberry,
who revealed a more thorough picture of the contribution the
African American quilt maker. These stories need to be
shared over and over again and Rachel May does so brilliantly,
intelligently, and with care. The history of enslaved
people—and today’s on-going racism—is not glossed over in this
deeply researched and beautifully written text. An American
Quilt is a major contribution to the multilayered and complex
history of quilt making in America."
*Roderick Kiracofe, author of 'Unconventional & Unexpected'*
"An American Quilt cleverly weaves together the disparate
fields of material cultural, northern industrialization,
mercantilism, trade and slavery. Deeply researched history,
May reveals the multifaceted economic and personal relations
between northern textile manufacturers and southern enslavers.
Moreover, May reminds us that the handmade quilts of white
antebellum slave-holding and non-slave-holding women carry unlikely
histories, including those of enslaved African Americans whose
labor and stories are usually unacknowledged or overlooked."
*Christy Clark-Pujara, Associate Professor of History in the
Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin,
author of Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island*
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