Baltimore Album Quilts: New Research

As promised, I’m returning to the research topic of Baltimore Album Quilts. On a recent research trip to Baltimore, I spent time reading original sources including three diaries from the mid-nineteenth century. Two of the diaries were instrumental in guiding my research onto new discoveries about Baltimore Album Quilts.

I’d previously written about the importance of the Washingtonians’ connections to Baltimore Album Quilts. (Here’s a link to that blog, if you’d like to reread.) At the time, I searched for the women’s auxiliary to the organization, which was sometimes referred to as Martha Washingtonians. However, I was puzzled when I couldn’t find much about these groups. However, one of the diaries mentioned that the Washingtonians women’s groups were associated with the local fire division. Consequently, it was easy to find information in the newspaper about these groups, including the one briefly mentioned in the diary Ladies Liberty Temperance Benevolent Society. This group also had an active youth group associated with the society.

The Ladies Liberty Temperance Benevolent Society met every Monday at 2:30 for the purpose of sewing for the poor. By January of 1843, the paper noted that about 50 ladies gathered to make garments for the poor and reformed drunks. As a reminder, other benevolent society minutes referenced the making of quilts. The Ladies Liberty Temperance Benevolent Society also organized concerts as well as sales of their fancy articles to raise money for their work. As we continue to examine the different women’s auxiliaries, a clearer connection to the Baltimore Album Quilts will emerge.