Dated to the Civil War, the ‘Reconciliation Quilt’ was the most costly quilt ever sold at auction. In 1991, it sold for $264,000 at Sotheby’s. It is currently at the University of Nebraska’s International Quilt Study Center. It was made and sewed by Lucinda Ward Honstain in 1867. She shared intimate elements of her family’s life in the quilt’s blocks through the quilt. You will see a young woman riding a black horse and might be Honstain’s daughter, Emma. It’s possible that the man is Honstain’s husband and is dressed dramatically in a military costume with Zouave influences. In the middle is a picture of Honstain’s red brick Brooklyn home, with an American flag flying and a yard full of various farm animals. It is an excellent representation of Brooklyn’s social and political identities during that time. You will also notice a strong image of a black guy standing up to a white man half his size and yelling, “Master, I am Free.” It strongly refers to the Civil War. Another reads, “Jeff Davis and Daughter,” referring to the fabled reunion of the Confederate States president Jefferson Davis and his daughter following his incarceration. These blocks represent the prospect of post-war peace between the Northern and Southern states. As part of the 150th-anniversary celebration of the Homestead Act in 2013, The Reconciliation Quilt was on display at Homestead National Monument.