The Gee's Bend Quilts

The New York Times called the Gee's Bend quilts "some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced."

You have probably seen the Gee's Bend Quilts stamps that came out in 2006, but how much do you know about them? Since it is Black History Month, we here at Postmarks thought that you might like to learn more about Gee's Bend, Alabama; the quilts; and the women who make them: it's indeed a story of true talent and creativity, generations of hardship, and ultimately, triumph and well-deserved recognition. 

Gee's Bend (now named Boykin) is located 30 miles southwest of Selma; it is almost an island, surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River. After emancipation in 1850, many freed slaves took the last name of their former owner (Pettway) and remained on the land as planters or sharecroppers. Many people alive in the area today still retain the surname Pettway.

In the 1932 during the Great Depression, all of the Gee's Bend residents owed money to a local merchant. When the merchant died, his wife foreclosed on the debt and seized all of the possessions of every resident, the belongings of 62 families, 300 people--furniture, animals, food, EVERYTHING.

Gee's Bend was deemed the poorest community in the poorest county in America.

Assistance from the Red Cross and from the government arrived, and with it came the outside world. In 1937, Reverend Renwick Kennedy wrote stories about Gee's Bend for The Christian Century. "Gee's Bend represents another civilization. Gee's Bend is an Alabama Africa. There is no more concentrated and racially exclusive Negro population in any rural community in the South than in Gee's Bend," Kennedy wrote. Even today, there is only one road that leads into and out of Gee's Bend.

At about the same time, photographer Arthur Rothstein was hired by the Resettlement Administration to document life in Gee's Bend. Rothstein's assignment was to take before pictures, so that the Administration could later show how much progress it had brought to the area. Although Rothstein's pictures are now famous, they also remain controversial: many historians believe that they were patronizing,  improperly staged or framed, and conveyed the widely-held racist beliefs of the time.

Arthur Rothstein, Negroes, descendants of former slaves of the Pettway Plantation, Gees Bend, Alabama, 1937. Courtesy of The Library of Congress, LC-DIG-fsa-8b35851

Arthur Rothstein, Sewing a quilt. Gees Bend, Alabama, 1937. Courtesy of The Library of Congress,

fsa 8b35946 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8b35946

In the 1970's, the Birmingham Public Library hired John Reese to take more photographs in Gee's Bend (the pictures are copyrighted and can't be reproduced, but they can be seen here.).

As a result of this publicity, the world outside of Gee's Bend became fascinated with the people there. Over the next 50 years, people came to record their music, recitations, festivals, and of course to buy their quilts, but the residents themselves saw little improvement  in their own lives.  At the very most, a quilt sold for $20. In 1985, a local historian reported that the residents said about all of the attention, "'Ain't nothing ever happened.'"

Everything changed in 2002 when the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston held an exhibition of 70 of the quilts. Now, the work of the Gee's Bend women was perceived as valuable (monetarily and culturally), collectable modern art. Books, a gospel cd, a touring exhibit, the USPS stamp release, and a documentary (The Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend) soon followed. A non-profit agency helped the women form a collective so that they could control their products and finally profit from them. Finally, respect was given and gained.

Additionally, Elyzabeth Gregory Wilde wrote an award-winning play entitled Gee's Bend, and there have been two children's books written about Gee's Bend: Stitchin' and Pullin': A Gee's Bend Quilt (picture book) and Leaving Gee's Bend.

Poster made for Alabama Gets Caught Reading:

To see examples of more the the Gee's Bend quilts, click here.

To watch a clip from the documentary The Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend, click here.

The Birmingham Public Library will be displaying the Gee's Bend quilts of Tinnie Pettway in the exhibit "That's Sew Gee's Bend" from August 2 - September 10, 2010.  Admission: free.

Update: At the Bernice Steinbaum Gallery in Miami, 10 of the Gee's Bend quilts will be auctioned off on March 13, 2010 to provide assistance to victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The reserve price for each quilt ranges from $10,000 to $30,000.

Sisters For Soldiers

Last week, Sisters for Soldiers mailed care packages from the Auburn Post Office to soldiers deployed in the Middle East.

                         

Pictured from left: Mary Catherine Stewart, Sisters for Soldiers; Karen Bromberger, Retail Associate; Willie Phearson, Customer Service Supervisor

Mary Catherine Stewart, the founder of Sisters for Soldiers, is an Auburn University student and the Director of Benevolence for the Auburn University Panhellenic Council. When Stewart's brother, a Captain in the Army, was deployed to Iraq, she began sending packages to him, heard about other soldiers who were not receiving mail from home, and the group grew from there.

So far, Sisters for Soldiers has mailed about 250 packages, but the group wants to do so much more. They have assembled 1800 packages and are in the process of raising the funds for postage. More information about how we can help will be forthcoming.

On The Ball in Waterloo

Rural Carrier Denise High of Waterloo is the winner of this week's On The Ball award. On January 22, Denise noticed that mail was accumulating in a customer's mailbox and realized that she hadn't seen him in several days. "Normally, I would see him walking across the road to get his mail," Denise said.

Initially, Denise thought that perhaps the elderly gentleman had gone to visit family and had forgotten to have his mail held because she had not seen his vehicle, but on this day, she noticed that his truck was parked in the back of the residence, partially hidden from view.

She began to worry and asked the neighbors if they had seen the fellow. They said that they had seen him recently, but when they came over to check on the dog who was kept on a chain in the yard, the dog was dead.

Denise alerted her postmaster, Brandi Woods, who called the local authorities and asked them to do a wellness check. Sadly, they found the customer deceased in the residence.

Because of Denise's efforts, the gentleman's family was able be notified of his passing.

                                  

Postmaster Brandi Woods and Rural Carrier Denise High: Waterloo, Alabama

This is not the first time that Denise has shown true concern for the well-being of the customers on her route. Over the course of her 24-year Postal career, she also prevented a housefire from spreading and helped an elderly customer with a severe wound receive medical attention.

Denise, we here at Postmarks applaud your dedicated service. The Postal customers on your route are certainly lucky to have such a caring, observant carrier.

Please send in nominations for our weekly award, and don't forget that we are always looking for new trophy designs.

New York Carrier Makes Amazing Catch

Monday, in Albany, New York, carrier Lisa Harrell displayed her athletic prowess and fitness for duty when she caught a 25-pound baby that fell out of a second-story window.

Harrell, who has been with the Postal Service for 14 years, noticed the baby in the window while making deliveries. "I had an express piece of mail, so I deviated from my first couple of stops, "Harrell said.

While on her way to deliver the piece of express mail, the baby fell out the window and landed on Harrell, who instinctively reached out and caught it.

The mother of the child ran out, snatched the baby from Harrell, said a quick thank you, and rushed back to her apartment. Afterwards, she refused to come out and answer any questions about the incident.

We here at Postmarks think that Harrell deserves much more recognition than that for her amazing catch, perhaps something akin to a crystal football (or in her case, a crystal baby). And thank goodness for that piece of Express Mail that caused Harrell to veer off of her normal route. Note to the public: Express Mail saves lives!

To read more about the incident and to watch a video clip of Harrell on the local news, click here.

Presidents Day Trophy

This week's On the Job, On the Ball winners are the window clerks at the Birmingham Main Window Unit, who were brought to our attention by one of their supervisors, Paula Williamson.

 Ms. Williamson wrote, "As often as twice a week, they bring questionable money orders to their supervisors, Paula Williamson and Cynthia Lawson, to verify their validity."

"Our money orders have wonderful security features. We have been thoroughly trained to detect those that are fake," said Retail Associate Carrie Davis.

                                                 Janet Kennedy and Carrie Davis

Retail Associate Janet Kennedy added, "It is suspicious when several money orders in large amounts, such as $800 or $900, are presented."

Way to go, Birmingham MOWU! Postmarks commends your attentiveness and the care that you take in trying to do your best on the job.

And remember, everyone: we need trophy designers for our weekly award.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope that everyone is staying safe and warm this Valentine's week-end. Postmarks Online salutes you all for making so many people happy by doing your best to get the cards, letters, and packages from our customers to the people they love. Keep up the great work, and please help yourselves to some virtual candy (the healthiest kind).

And because it is now at the moment we're writing this post less than an hour from Valentine's Day, we can't resist sharing this photo with you:

This is 90-year-old Centerpoint carrier Morris Wilkinson and his wife, Nora. In January, they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Mr. Wilkinson is featured in this month's newsletter, which should be arriving any day.

The Olympic Spirit

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Games opening ceremonies are tonight, and although there are no Alabamians participating, all of that snow that fell today sure got us in the Olympic mood.

Enjoy the snow and the games, everyone, and be extra careful when you're behind the wheel. Most of us aren't used to this kind of wintry weather.

Speaking of the Olympics, have you seen the Olympic stamp that was released last month? It celebrates snowboarding, which has only been in the games since 1998. 

VOE: Your Voice, Your Choice

The way that we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives.
--Anthony Robbins

Once again, it's time for the Voice of the Employee (VOE) surveys to start making the rounds.

We want to encourage everyone who receives the surveys to complete them. This is an opportunity to let your opinions be known, and be assured that YOUR ANSWERS MATTER.

Whether or not you fill out the survey is completely up to you: are you silent on the sidelines, or are you a participating member of the team? Like they say, you can't win if you don't play.

While we're on the subject of VOE, we want to congratulate Clanton, the post office with the highest Alabama VOE scores in FY 2009. More about why employees are so happy in Clanton is coming in this quarter's Postmarks.

                                                                    Clanton employees

The top Alabama VOE scorers last year were Clanton, Moulton, Hamilton, Robertsdale, and Semmes.

On the Job, On the Ball

All Postal employees need finely tuned observational skills. Being aware and alert is a necessity whether you’re behind the wheel, behind the counter, behind a mail processing machine, or behind a desk: our safety, the well-being of our customers, and the security of the mail often depends upon us.


That’s why today, we’re starting a regular Monday segment called On the Job, On the Ball about alert employees who take notice and take action. Featured employees will receive an engraved virtual trophy that changes each week along with a wriiten tribute of our admiriation and respect.

This week's lucky recipient is Sabrina Dubose, the Postmaster of tiny Ariton, Alabama.

Ms. Dubose thwarted the scheme of a money order scammer. To read the full article about her quick-thinking efforts, see this quarter's Postmarks, which should arrive on your doorstep within the next week.

This week, we nominated Sabrina because she is a  great example of being able to think on your feet, and because her pictures arrived too late to be included in the printed publication.

If you would like to nominate a fellow employee for an On the Ball award, or if you would like to take a shot at designing the next virtual trophy, contact us.

Love Letters From Ella

Some of you may not know that this year, in 3,200 post offices around the country and at USPS.com, the Postal Service is selling a special CD for Valentine's Day: Love Letters From Ella. It contains 10 Love Songs sung by the fabulous Ella Fitzgerald.  The CD, which was originally released in 2007, also comes with a full reproduction of the Ella Fitzgerald Postage stamp. It contains 10 songs including Our Love Is Here to Stay, Witchcraft, and Cry Me a River (in which she is accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra), and it costs only $10.99.

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so if you're having trouble coming up with a gift idea for that special someone, why don't you pick up one of these before they're gone? In addition to supporting the creative efforts of the USPS to increase our revenue, you would also be giving (or keeping for yourself) a romantic collection of timeless music.

Some of you may not know much about Ella Fitzgerald and her contributions to American music. Since it is Black History Month, I'll take this opportunity to give you a little information about her, and if this piques your interest, visit  http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/.

She is much more than the woman whose voice shattered the glass in the famous, "Is it live, or is it Memorex?" commercial: she is known as the First Lady of Song. Her amazing three-octave voice and gift for improvisation sold over 40 million albums and earned her 13 Grammy awards, The National Medal of Art, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Kennedy Center Honors, and the love and admiration of millions of fans all. All of this was achieved in a time when, at least early on in her career, segregation and racial discrimination were prevalent, legal barriers to her success.  

But Ella Fitzgerald was accustomed to hardship.In the Yonkers, New York environment in which she was raised, life was difficult for her mother, a laundress, and her step-father, a ditch digger; both parents died when she was a teen-ager. Ella's anger and depression over this these traumatic losses led to her acting out, getting in trouble. She was sent to a reform school and then to the Colored Orphan Asylum, from which she escaped.

Surviving as a  homeless teenager alone on the streets of New York during the Great Depression and then being able to rise from that time of darkness is not only a testament to Ella's talent as a singer, but also to her tenacity and strength. As luck or fate would have it, her career took off after at age 17 she won $25 in a talent contest at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Her popularity became widespread in 1939 when, at 21, she sang the hit A-Tisket, A-Tasket. Her greatest contribution to the world of music was her interpretation of the Great American Songbook (jazz standards written by various songwriters between 1920 through 1960) on a series of 8 albums between 1956-1964. All 10 songs on Love Letters from Ella cd belong to the GAS.

Her career spanned 59 years until her last public appearance in 1993. That year, due to complications from diabetes, she had both legs amputated below the knee. Three years later in 1996, Ella Fitzgerald died. She is buried in the Sanctuary of the Belles section of Inglewood Park Cemetary in Inglewood, California. Her legacy, however, remains alive and continues to transcend gender, race, and time.

Birmingham Class Open to All Rescheduled

The Birmingham LWPC (Life Work Planning Center) Class that was originally scheduled for January 27 has been rescheduled for Feb. 11, from noon till 1:00pm. It is open to all employees.

Come learn the step-by-step process that leads to being able to list items for sale online. In class, we will show you how to set yourself up for accepting payments, how to write appealing item descriptions, how to take and upload photographs of what you're selling, and how to deal with all kinds of customers.

Register by calling (205) 521-0291, or just show up!

February is Black History Month

 

What do all of these people have in common (excluding the folks hugging Ruben)????

They are all from Alabama.
Depicted are (clockwise from Ruben, who is upper left)
1.  Ruben Studdard, American Idol winner
2.  Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space
3. Artist Chris Hopkins' salute to the Tuskegee Airman
4. Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram
5. Baseball Hall-of-Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron
6. Rosa Parks, Civil Rights Activist


Throughout the month of February, whenever we get the chance, we'll focus on the accomplishments of African-Americans, particularly as they are related to Alabama or the Postal Service.
If you have an ideas or suggestions for subjects, please let us know.