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An Enslaved Woman And Her Dressmaker Daughter

Because much of our history comes from written documents and valuable possessions made from durable materials, much of what we know about the past involves wealthy, literate people.  Less is known about the poor and illiterate, but one historian has found stories of an African-American family written in fabric. 

Kathleen Curtis Wilson is an expert on Appalachian fabric and crafts – a historian and a fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.  Some months ago she was asked to speak in Bath County, where she met a local paramedic – a woman named Perlista Henry – who had pictures of a great grandmother, the daughter of a slave, who made dresses.  Henry showed Wilson two quilts, a purse and a bed cover made by Elizabeth Morris Bolton:

“No woman ever has handed me a piece of cloth that doesn’t tell me a story to go with it.” 

Bolton was a tall, slender beauty who married a coachman from Charlottesville. He worked at the Homestead – a popular resort that predates the Civil War, and she made sure guests were suitably dressed.

“Women at the turn of that last century all knew their own measurements … needed another gown or day dress or it turned cold or particularly hot, then they would write to their dressmaker back home, and that person would send the length of fabric they needed.”

Kathleen Curtis Wilson

Because fabric is delicate, it’s rare to find old things made from cloth – things that can definitely be traced back to their makers – which explains why Wilson was so moved when she saw what Perlista Henry came to share.

“I burst into tears, and the woman, I think she was going to grab them and run, because she thought I was crazy.  I knew instantly what a find that was.”

She has now photographed things made by Elizabeth Bolton and is working on a book about her family – people who lived in Bath County since at least 1832.

Kathleen Wilson speaks Wednesday, March 25 at 7 in the Fralin Auditorium on the Virginia Tech campus.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief