Two Traveling Quilts—A Part of Marin’s History

by Jocelyn Moss, MHM Librarian


In December, I received a call from a woman who was interested in the background of two quilts hanging in the Robert W. Woodruff Library, at the Atlanta University Center in Georgia. One depicts Harriet Tubman and the other Frederick Douglass. She wanted to know more about the Marin City man who designed them and the women who made them.

The Marin Independent Journal and the Sausalito News were good sources of information.  The first celebration of National Negro History week was reported in February 1950, in Marin City.  The program included speakers, the choir of the First Missionary Baptist Church, an art exhibit and films. The celebration became an annual event with each year seeing more participation from local organizations and churches. There were speakers as well as a historical exhibit, displayed in the city’s community center lounge.

Out of this celebration came the creative spark that inspired the two quilts. The quilts were designed by Benjamin Irvin, a draftsman for the San Francisco-based architectural firm, Howard A. Freidman and Associates. The quilt depicting Harriet Tubman was finished in 1951 and sewn by an interracial group of women from Marin City and Sausalito composed of Birdie Smith, Martha Johnson, Essee McKee, Betty DePrado, Catherine Holland and Claudia Beagarie. It was entered in the 1952 California State Fair and won second prize.

The quilt depicting Frederick Douglass, which was started by the same group as the Harriet Tubman quilt, was finished in 1953 by Bernice Vissman, Martha Johnson, Essie McKee, Detta Wright, Birdie Smith and Betty DePrado.