The original quilt was created for the Museum of Durham History, completed in January of 2017. The Memories of Durham Story Quilt celebrates Durham’s shared heritage, depicted in cloth. The quilt is based on oral histories recorded for the Museum of Durham History Story Room Project. People from diverse backgrounds recalled their memories of Durham during the 1940s to the 1980s, and a selection of these stories formed the basis for the quilt’s design.

The quilters expressed their artistic interpretation of these memories by using pictures, texts, and fabrics to stitch together pieces, objects and vignettes that capture a collective remembrance deeply rooted in struggle, pride, and community.

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As a supplement to the physical quilt that is on display in the Museum’s Story Room, we created a digital presentation, detailing the many stories and pictures that populate this amazing display. You can visit this digital presentation HERE. We recommend zooming out on your browser to about 60-70%.

We will demo this great presentation at Durham County Library’s 2024 LibraryFest, this Saturday, April 13th at 10am. Our workshop will take place in the Main Library’s Cafe.

We plan on continuing to expand this digital presentation to include more stories, and even videos and recordings of the original oral histories that inspired the pictures. Stay tuned!

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The quilters hope the Memories of Durham Story Quilt will inspire visitors to the Museum of Durham History to reflect on, remember, and share their own stories and convey the message, “Your Memories Matter!” 

We extend a special thank you to the original contributors to the concept, development, design, and creation of the Memories of Durham Story Quilt: Katie Spencer, Executive Director, Museum of Durham History; Sauda Zahra, Story Quilt Project Lead; Jereann King Johnson, Quilter; Veronica Carlisle, Quilter; Nancy Cash, Quilter; Cheryl Breeze, Quilter. This digital presentation of the quilt would not have been possible without the help of the following Museum volunteers: Tom Clayton, Martha Scotford, Bob Pozner, Niyah Major, Cameron Johnson, Alice Chen, Michael Li, and Amy Chou. The Memories of Durham Story Quilt digital presentation project was led by Anmol Sapru and Clay Harrison, and implemented by Carol Thomson and Firestream Media.