1870 - 1880 Betty West's "Nurse's" Quilt Top
date: label: date made
content: 1870-1880
name: label: maker
content: West, Betty
notes: label: Description
content: Five 24-inch pieced 8-Pointed Star blocks and four Railroad Crossing blocks were constructed using 27 different printed cottons. This quilt top was made about 1879 by Betty West, who was employed by Leonides C. Campbell and his wife, Mary, as a nurse for their children.
label: Description
content: One of the children, Mary C. Watkins, wrote in 1939: “Betty West, our Negro nurse, made this quilt for my brother Kennedy and me. The many stitches made by stiff old fingers showes the real love she had for the two white children entrusted to her care. I treasured the quilt & have kept it all these years in loving memory of her.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: District of Columbia
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Quilts
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content: Textiles
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy C. Watkins
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T17773.00A
label: accession number
content: 315496
label: catalog number
content: T17773A
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 87 in x 86 in; 220 cm x 218 cm