counterpane
date: label: date made
content: c. 1869
name: label: maker
content: Margaret Perea
label: maker
content: Perea, Margaret
notes: label: Description
content: This blue and white checked counterpane or bedspread was handwoven of blue and white singles cotton yarn in approximately 1869 in the Danville, VA area of Mecklenburg, County by Mrs. Margaret Perea, a formerly enslaved woman, reportedly from cotton she grew, spun, and (presumably) dyed. The coverlet is made from three selvedge-width sections, each 30.25" wide, with one carefully pieced repair at the top proper left. The lower corners are cut and hemmed into a gentle curve. The sides and bottom hem are embellished with two-ply cotton handwoven fringe.
label: Description
content: One of three coverlets woven by Margaret Perea for her children, this beautifully-made piece is the subject of active research into the maker and her family. The maker's son, Lt. Beverly H. Perea (1854 – 1915) m. Missouri Johns (1863 – 1930). Lt. Perea was the first African American buried at Arlington, Cemetery, at his request. Perea was 2nd Lt of Company C, 49th US Volunteer Infantry, Col. William H. Beck, commanding, but served in at least two other volunteer regiments as well, going back to the 1870s. The 49th was organized Sept. 15, 1899 as one of two volunteer regiments officered and manned by African-Americans in the Spanish-American war. After his service, Lt. Perea worked as a railroad porter in Cambridge, Massachusetts until his death. His widow, Missouri Perea, worked as a laundress. Their daughter, the donor, attended Radcliffe College and taught French at several colleges, later becoming a social worker and organizer in the DC area. Her husband, Charles McCane, was a Physics professor at Howard University. The two retired to Falmouth, Massachusetts. She died March 29, 1989.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Virginia, Danville
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. Charles A. McCane
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T13710
label: catalog number
content: T13710
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Counterpane
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 98 in; 248.92 cm