Hi everyone! My name is Emma Whittaker and I am a rising senior in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the Frederick Honors College. I am majoring in Anthropology and Museum Studies with a minor in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. At Pitt, I am also a member of the Treble Choral Ensemble, a volunteer mentor for the non-profit Strong Women Strong Girls, and a Student Ambassador for the Dietrich School. As a Brackenridge Fellowship recipient, I am grateful for the opportunity to conduct independent research this summer about the contemporary collection and display of quilts from Gee’s Bend, Alabama. 

Gee’s Bend is a small, isolated community home to a unique quiltmaking tradition defined by bold colors and improvisational designs, often made from second-hand fabrics and stitched together by hand. Over the last few decades, the quilts and their makers gained attention in numerous exhibitions at renowned art museums. While the quilts are beautiful and complex pieces of art, they also provide insights into the rich cultural history of the quiltmakers, nearly all of whom are direct descendants of enslaved Africans who once worked on a nearby plantation. Under the guidance of Dr. Gretchen Bender, my research focuses on how interactions with and interventions by people from the “art world” have impacted the quiltmaking tradition in Gee’s Bend and how museums can responsibly collect and display the quilts, which are cultural as well as artistic objects. 

This summer, I am researching the existing Gee’s Bend quilt exhibitions and comparing their design, theme, and critical reception, ultimately creating an integrated timeline of museum exhibitions and historical events in Gee’s Bend. I am also heading to Philadelphia this weekend to complete an analysis of the current exhibition, “Gee’s Bend Quilts from the Collection.” I am especially excited about my visit because it will be my first time seeing these quilts in person! Looking forward, I am preparing to conduct interviews with curators and scholars in contemporary art and African American history who have direct experience with Gee’s Bend. I will also access public archives and databases to collect photographs and documents from Gee’s Bend during critical historical moments, including the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement. 

I feel honored to receive the opportunity to complete this project through the Brackenridge Fellowship, which is affording me the time and resources to focus on my research over the summer in preparation for my honors thesis in Museum Studies, for which this project is the basis. Investigating Gee’s Bend quilts allows me to draw upon my interdisciplinary knowledge of anthropology, history, and visual arts while sharing my research experience with talented interdisciplinary undergraduate researchers who inform my work. I am interested in using my developing research skills to apply to graduate and PhD programs in the near future, and the Brackenridge Fellowship will certainly inform my decisions about the next steps post-graduation. I am excited to continue this new academic journey and see where it takes me!