African American Quilt Documentation Study Group
Preserving the Art, History & Heritage of African American Quilts
A scholarly archive dedicated to documenting, researching, and celebrating the quilting traditions of African American quilts and their makers across generations.
Our Purpose
Uncovering and Documenting Our Quilt Legacies
African American history, our contributions, and our achievements are often underrepresented, ignored, or even erased from mainstream historical narratives. This has led to gaps and fragmentation in the collective historical record of African Americans. Many African American quilts have no record of the quilt history or the quilt maker. In most cases, what is known has been handed down orally and not recorded anywhere.
The African American Quilt Documentation Study Group was established to uncover, document, and research African American quilt history with the goal of preserving our African American quilting heritage.
Our archive brings together quilts, oral histories, and scholarly research from across the United States — creating an accessible resource for historians, educators, quilters, families, and cultural heritage enthusiasts.
BAMPFA Documentation Day, June 2025, Berkeley, CA
Featured Quilts
Quilts That Tell Our Story
Quilts have long been a keeper of African American history -- stories stitched into fabric when they couldn't be spoken aloud. Stories held in every seam tell a tale of the quilt makers' lives. Each quilt in this Archive honors a family legacy, carrying forward traditions passed from hand to hand and stories from generation to generation.
Strip Quilt
Improv Strip Quilt
Memphis, Tennessee · circa 1985
An electrifying improvisational Strip Quilt from Memphis — hundreds of angled fabric pieces in every color and pattern cascade across the surface in a dazzling display of spontaneity and skill. Accession no. 2024.4.38.
Wagon Wheel
Wagon Wheel
Crockett, Texas · circa 1930
Housetop
Housetop Variation
Bogalusa, Louisiana · circa 1950
Our Newsletter
The Griot's Tea
IT HAS BEEN A WHILE, BUT WE ARE BACK, AND THE NEXT GRIOT'S TEA IS COMING SOON!...Sit down, pour a cup, and get caught up on the latest AAQDSG news. The Griot's Tea is our quarterly newsletter bringing you event updates, Documentation Days, and the highlights from the archive.
We are thrilled to be back and working on our next newsletter, dedicated to celebrating and preserving African American quilting traditions. Our study group is committed to documenting the unique stories, techniques, and cultural significance embedded in African American quilts. Quilting has long served as a medium through which African American women—and men—have expressed creativity, resilience, and community bonds. Each quilt holds a piece of history, stitching together threads of personal and collective narratives across generations. Through this newsletter, we aim to share more than just documentation events and quiltmakers stories – we will also highlight the historical significance of African American quilts and our ongoing efforts to conserve them. Our mission is to honor and preserve these legacies and ensure their continued presence for future generations. A’donna L. Richardson Director, AAQDSG
Join the Email List
Stay Connected to the Archive
Receive The Griot's Tea directly in your inbox, along with event announcements, and new collection additions.
Join the Documentation Effort
Do you have quilts, stories, or research to contribute? AAQDSG welcomes researchers, collectors, quilters, and quilt guilds to help grow this living archive. We are also open to community collaboration for quilt documentation days with libraries, universities, museums, and community organizations.