"Lord Keep Us Safe This Night": Religious Imagery in Depression-Era Rural Quilts

Department

Art

Authors

Kelsey N. Mattingly, Western Kentucky UniversityFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

This thesis investigates specific quilts from rural areas during the Depression era in relation to their religious imagery. Databases from the Kentucky Historical Society, International Quilt Study Center and Museum and the Quilt Index provide records of assessment. This analysis focuses on religious imagery in quilts, but I will look at the religious communities that collectively created them with a specific attention to the roles that church groups and the practice of group quilting played in their productions. I will present the resulting analysis drawn from my written work to uncover why certain quilts exhibited religious imagery where others did not and examine the nature of religion in rural society in times of distress.

Advisor(s) or Committee Chair

Dr. Guy Jordan

Disciplines

Art and Design | Christianity | Other Arts and Humanities

Recommended Citation

Mattingly, Kelsey N., ""Lord Keep Us Safe This Night": Religious Imagery in Depression-Era Rural Quilts" (2013). Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 388.
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/388