A Distinctly American Story

February 2026
  • Words: Amy Eva Raehse
    A Distinctly American Story We are honored to share that a remarkable group of family heirloom quilts by the Scott...

    Joyce J. Scott & Elizabeth Talford Scott, Three Generation Quilt I, 1983

    A Distinctly American Story

     
    We are honored to share that a remarkable group of family heirloom quilts by the Scott family has been acquired by the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, arranged through Goya Contemporary.
     
    This acquisition ensures that a deeply personal American story — one that spans from forced enslavement to global artistic acclaim within just three generations — will be preserved and shared with future generations.
     
    At the heart of this story is internationally celebrated artist and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Joyce J. Scott, whose family history is stitched into these extraordinary works. The quilts powerfully illustrate struggle, resilience, creativity, and perseverance — not as abstract concepts, but as lived experience.  They are at once historical artifacts and masterworks of American art, telling stories that have always been present, even when history books failed to record them.
  • QUILTS AS DIARIES, MEMORY, AND RESISTANCE AS JOYCE DESCRIBES THEM, QUILTS WERE “DIARIES FOR PRELITERATE PEOPLE.” THEY ARE VISUAL TRIGGERS...

    Samuel Caldwell, Untitled, 1948

    QUILTS AS DIARIES, MEMORY, AND RESISTANCE

     

    AS JOYCE DESCRIBES THEM, QUILTS WERE  “DIARIES FOR PRELITERATE PEOPLE.” THEY ARE VISUAL TRIGGERS FOR ORAL HISTORIES, LAYERED WITH CODED STORIES, FAMILY LORE, SURVIVAL STRATEGIES, AND LOVE.  THESE WERE NOT SIMPLY DECORATIVE OBJECTS. THEY WERE USED — SLEPT UNDER, REPAIRED, LAYERED, AND LIVED WITH. OVER TIME, THEY BECAME REPOSITORIES OF TOUCH AND TESTIMONY. WHEN QUILTS BECAME WORN OR STAINED, NEW FABRIC WAS ADDED — THIS IS WHAT JOYCE AND ELIZABETH CALLED “NEW PAGES IN THE BOOK.” STITCHES BECAME WORDS. WORDS BECAME PARAGRAPHS. FABRIC BECAME HISTORY.
     
    The quilts in this acquisition were made by multiple generations of the Scott family:
     
    • Mary Jane Caldwell (maternal grandmother)
    • Samuel Caldwell (maternal grandfather)*
    • Lucille Foster Brown (maternal cousin and godmother)
    • Elizabeth Talford Scott (Joyce’s mother)
    • Joyce J. Scott  herself
     
    *People think Male quilters are rare, yet Samuel Caldwell quilted alongside his family. Working various jobs — including for the railroad — he was also a musician, and quilting was both artistic expression and a way to remain closely connected to his family. 
  • Making Something from Nothing Materials tell their own story, and the Scott’s used plenty! Sugar sacks Granite and salt sacks...

    Mary Jane Caldwell, Untitled, circa 1930's

    Making Something from Nothing
    Materials tell their own story, and the Scott’s used plenty!

     

    • Sugar sacks
    • Granite and salt sacks
    • Natural dyes
    • Recycled clothing
    • Neckties from Lucille’s husband
    • Old garments from Elizabeth’s migration “Upsouth” in the 1930s and 1940s
    • Joyce’s childhood pajamas and swimsuit
    • Even a stitched face Joyce added as a college student
     
    This was an ethos of transformation: everything was a something-from-nothing attitude. Cast-off materials were cleaned, repurposed, and spiritually uplifted. Words and printed graphics on feed sacks became teaching tools for children gathered beneath the quilting frame. The act of quilting was communal, educational, and ceremonial.
  • THE FIFTY YEAR QUILT Elizabeth Talford Scott’s monumental “Fifty Year Quilt” contains decades of life. As she aged — particularly...

    Elizabeth Talford Scott, Fifty Year Quilt, 1930-1980

    THE FIFTY YEAR QUILT

     

    Elizabeth Talford Scott’s monumental “Fifty Year Quilt” contains decades of life. As she aged — particularly after moving into a home with a studio and later retiring in the late 1980s — her output increased. Scholars began to take note, and her practice flourished. 
     
    Her quilt imagery often reflected memories from childhood: insects, plants, stars, and light — symbols rooted in observation, memory, and imagination.
  • WHY IT MATTERS We are proud to conclude our Black History Month series, History in the Making, with this joyous...

    Mary Jane Caldwell, Untitled, circa 1930's

    WHY IT MATTERS

     

    We are proud to conclude our Black History Month series, History in the Making, with this joyous celebration of the Scott family heirloom quilts — now preserved within the collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
     
    There is perhaps no story more distinctly American than that of the Scott family. Through the hands of Elizabeth Talford Scott, Joyce J. Scott, and the generations before them, fabric became testimony. Quilts became archives. Everyday materials became vessels of memory, resistance, ingenuity, and love. These works remind us that history is not only written in textbooks — it is stitched into cloth, passed through stories, and carried in families. By helping place these heirlooms within our national museums, we ensure that this American story is not only preserved but honored within the broader narrative of who we are as a nation.
     
    We are grateful to unfold this history with you — and to recognize that Black history is not separate from American history. It is American history.