Harriet Powers
Quilter
Died when: 72 years 64 days (866 months)Star Sign: Scorpio
Harriet Powers (October 29, 1837 – January 1, 1910) was an American folk artist and quilt maker.Born into slavery in rural Georgia, she married young and had a family.
After the American Civil War and emancipation, she and her husband became landowners by the 1880s but lost their land due to financial problems.
She used traditional appliqué techniques to make quilts that expressed local legends, Bible stories, and astronomical events.Only two of her quilts are known to have survived: Bible Quilt 1886 and Pictorial Quilt 1898.
Her quilts are considered among the finest examples of nineteenth-century Southern quilting.Her work is on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.