1905 - 1910 Presbyterian Ladies Society Patriotic Banner
date: label: date made
content: 1905-1910
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: This is one of two banners or wall hangings made in the late 19th-early-20th century by the Ladies Society of the First Presbyterian Church, New York City, as a fundraising project. The donor referred to them as “Autograph Quilts” as they contain many signatures of prominent political personages of the period. The banners belonged to her husband’s grandmother, Margaret Clarke Goodall Bradley, and were donated in her memory. This banner, made about 10 years after a similarly designed banner, was also raffled as a fundraiser, possibly for a 1919 addition of a chancel to the church. Although she did not win the raffle, it was presented to Margaret Bradley because of “her efforts for the projects.”
label: Description
content: Similar in design to an earlier (about 1890) banner made by the same group, it has a black satin ground with an appliquéd American flag made of red silk and white satin ribbon and a printed 46-star flag. Inked signatures of Theodore Roosevelt (president 1901-1909) and his cabinet members are on the flag. The center 6 ¾-inch blue silk circle is embroidered "E PLURIBUS UNUM.” It is surrounded by 47 rays representing 46 states (one ray is empty). Utah and New Mexico had joined the Union since the earlier banner had been made. Made of red and white silks, each ray has the name of a state and inked signature of the governor at that time.
label: Description
content: The patriotic center is enhanced with appliquéd and embroidered flags of many nations. Some of these have pencil or ink signatures, over 300 in total. Seven metal rings are sewn to the banner's top edge, an indication that it was meant to be hung. It does not have a lining.
label: Description
content: The donor recalled in a letter that she remembered hearing that the quilts and banners were “a money-making project, and all the ladies of the church participated in the assembling of the ‘Autograph-Swatches’ and the stitching and embroidery. The signatures on the flags were probably by members and friends of the congregation, (and possibly charged a small fee for the privilege) and when the quilts were completed they were raffled off.”
label: Description
content: Margaret J. Clarke was born December 1858 to John and Matilda McKinney Clarke in New York City. Her parents were born in Ireland. She married Edward F. Goodall on September 18, 1877. He was killed by a train in 1880 and she married Samuel Bradley on February 25, 1885. She died November 21, 1929, in New York.
label: Description
content: Margaret's daughter Louise, from her first marriage, married John Gordon Noakes. Their son, Donald Gordon Noakes, married Emilie, the donor. He died in 1948 and Emilie later married John Manley. In 1979 Emilie Noakes Manley gave the quilts to the Museum in honor of the family and Margaret Clarke Goodall Bradley. Another granddaughter, Marjorie Blampied, wrote that the quilts “. . . most certainly are where they belong . . . where they will be treasured and appreciated.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Government, Politics, and Reform
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content: Family & Social Life
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content: Religion
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content: Textiles
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content: Quilts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Emilie Noakes Manley
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1019.02
label: catalog number
content: 1979.1019.02
label: accession number
content: 1979.1019
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, satin, silk (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton, silk (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 87 in x 106 in; 220 cm x 268 cm