Rosa Louise McCauley Parks - seamstress for the Montgomery Fair Department Store at the time she turned civil rights activist and refused to give up her seat.

Harriet Powers, the Athens, Georgia, seamstress created at least two powerful Bible quilts that bore strong similarities to West African textile arts, especially to the cloth trim from the Akan and Fon peoples.  She used an applique' technique to tell stories about her life as a slave.

Elizabeth Keckly (1817-1907)She was a master seamstress and brilliant fashion designer. She went from being a slave to dressmaker and friend for Abraham Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln

 dress made by Elizabeth Keckley

Kadella - To the right is an image of a chintz cutout applique quilt made in 1810. The slave of Colonel John Carson, Kadella, made the quilt as a celebration of his marriage. She created the quilt according to traditional European applique standards of displaying ornate French lace in intricate patterns. However, she also included African tradition in her quilt by cross-stitching long, vertical, strip-like lines onto the quilt.

Kadella lived in a special house that Carson built especially for her across the river from the other slave quarters. Kadella was said to have been a princess from Barbados, and thus she was kept away from difficult labor and allowed to sew and knit. Kadella was well respected and loved not only by her master but by fellow slaves as well. She was said to have been transported by fellow slaves in a rickshaw wherever she went.

Jane Bond--to the left is a picture of slave woman Jane Bond braiding the hair of her mistress Rebecca. Although most likely a posed for photograph, both women took pride in making dresses for one another and braiding one another's hair. Jane Bond was born a slave in Kentucky, 1828.  Jane & Rebecca formed a very close friendship and shared much of their lives, including quilting. The two quilts below are two of the remaining quilts from over twenty that they made together for their children. Although both are traditional European strict patterns, they are made with bright contrasting colors and even the strict patterns are deviated from as seen in four of the squares in the quilt on the right.