Images(3)

Quilt, Art

Object number2024.17.3

Made by Amy DeLancey Selders

Made by A. L. M.

Date1999

MediumFabric; Thread; Metallic thread; Plastic; Metal; Wood; Ink

Credit LineGift of Amy Selders

DescriptionRectangular fabric art quilt. Purple patterned border fabric. Perimeter band with pieced letter squares made from patterned fabrics; each corner has a pieced American flag. Center of quilt features 28 separate pieced rectangles of differing sizes; squares are pieced from polychrome patterned fabrics and some feature embellishments including handwritten ink inscriptions, buttons, beads, a charm and a pinback button; central area of squares is bordered by different patterned fabrics with embroidered quotes; rows of squares are separated by different patterned fabrics with embroidered quotes. Reverse is same patterned purple fabric as the front's border perimeter.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 92 x 63.625 x 0.5 in. (233.7 x 161.6 x 1.3 cm)
InscriptionsBorder band has pieced text "WITH LIBERTY / AND JUSTICE FOR ALL / WITH LIBERTY / AND JUSTICE FOR ALL".

Quilt square text, squares are recorded starting in the viewer's top left corner, moving from viewer's left to viewer's right, from top to bottom:
Embroidered gold metallic text "AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES / ACT JULY 26 1990";
Cross-stitched purple text "How will we / sleep at night / if we don't / try? / Justin Dart";
Pieced red and orange text "504" and embroidered red and orange text "THE / sit-in / THAT / CHANGED / OUR / LIVES";
Embroidered orange text "Fair / HOUSING / OPENS DOORS";
Green embroidered text "PEACE IS NOT MERELY THE ABSENCE OF CONFLICT. IT IS ALSO THE PRESENCE OF JUSTICE *****" and handwritten black ink signatures;
Embroidered blue text "PA / ACT 166" and the fabric has printed text "Liberty" and repeated printed text "the / Free / and / the Brave";
Pieced purple and blue star fabric text "TRCIL" and embroidered metallic silver text "1980";
Embroidered purple metallic text "ED ROBERTS" and "WADE BLANK";
Embroidered black text "TECH ACT";
Embroidered gold metallic text "My life. My Choice. / Consumer / Control";
Pieced floral fabric text with navy blue background "WE WILL / RIDE";
Pieced purple text "NOT / DEAD / YET";
Embroidered red and metallic gold text "They / have / rights / who / dare / to / maintain / them.";
Black embroidered text "FREE OUR PEOPLE" and black and gray pieced text "ADAPT";
Embroidered metallic silver text "Brothers / and / Sisters / 200,000";
Embroidered green text "Revolutions are not made. They come. A revolution is as natural a growth as an oak. It comes out of the past. It's [sic] foundations are laid far back. -W.P.";
Embroidered gold metallic text "If A MAN HASN'T DISCOVERED SOMETHING HE WILL DIE FOR. HE ISN'T FIT TO LIVE. - MLK 1963";
Embroidered yellow text "KNOWLEDGE is POWER" and pieced black and white fabric text "IDEA / 1975";
Pieced red and patterned fabric "OB / RA";
Embroidered green and orange text "AIR / CARRIER / ACCESS / ACT";
Pieced red fabric text "HOME / IS WHERE / THE [heart] / IS" and pieced purple fabric text "SUPPORT / MiCASA / H.R. 2020";
Embroidered black text at center "TOGETHER WE CAN / AND DO / MAKE A / DIFFERENCE" surrounded by numerous acronyms;
Pieced green and purple text "AI / CS / TO";
Pieced black text "DPN";
Pieced blue and embroidered blue text "Mental / Health / Parity / ACT";
Embroidered black and blue text "My Fellow / ADVOCATES / I / LOVE / YOU!";
Embroidered green text "FREE TO THE PEOPLE OF PITTSBURGH";
Embroidered red text "All of this / may not be finished within the first / hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first / thousand days, nor in the life of this / administration, nor even perhaps in our / lifetime on this planet. / But let us BEGIN. / -John F. Kennedy".

Embroidered text on perimeter band includes:
"EQUALITY / NOT / CHARITY";
"OUR HOMES";
"MADE WITH / MY HANDS, / HEART AND / SOUL. / 1999 / A. L. M.";
"THE PEOPLE / UNITED / WILL NEVER BE / DEFEATED!"

Embroidered text on border lines around perimeter, clockwise from top:
"INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE - Dr. M. L. King. ONE COUNTRY, ONE CONSTITUTION, ONE DESTINY. - D. WEBSTER ACCESS IS A CIVIL RIGHT";
"NEVER DOUBT THAT A SMALL GROUP OF THOUGHTFUL, COMMITTED CITIZENS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD: INDEED IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT EVER HAS. -M. MEAD WE SOLEMNLY VOW THAT THERE SHOULD NEVER BE ANOTHER SEASON OF SILENCE UNTIL WE ALL HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS EVERYWHERE ON THIS GREEN EARTH. - ELIZABETH CADY STANTON";
"TRUE FREEDOM IS TO SHARE ALL THE CHAINS OUR BROTHERS WEAR WITH HEART AND HANDS TO BE EARNEST TO MAKE OTHERS FREE. -J. R. LOWELL";
"WE STAND FOR FREEDOM. THAT IS OUR CONVICTION FOR OURSELVES; THAT IS OUR ONLY COMMITTMENT TO OTHERS. -J. F. K. THE FIGHT MUST GO ON. THE CAUSE OF CIVIL LIBERTIES MUST NOT BE SURRENDERED AT THE END OF 1 OR EVEN 100 DEFEATS. -ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

Embroidered text on border lines between the squares, recorded starting in the viewer's top left corner, moving roughly from viewer's left to viewer's right, from top to bottom:
"BLESSED IS HE WHOSE FAME DOES NOT OUTSHINE HIS TRUTH. - SIR TAGORE. 1916.";
"JUSTICE DELAYED IS DEMOCRACY DENIED. -ROBERT KENNEDY. 1964. THE FIRM BASIS OF GOVERNMENT IS JUSTICE NOT PITY. -WOODROW WILSON. 1913.";
"RADICALISM IS A LABEL THAT IS ALWAYS APPLIED TO PEOPLE ENDEAVORING FREEDOM. -M. GARVEY. -1923. LIBERTY IS ALWAYS UNFINISHED BUSINESS. -A.C.L.U. -1955";
"MEN WOULD RATHER BE STARVING THAN FED IN BONDS. -PEARL S. BUCK. -1943 MAY WE KNOW UNITY WITHOUT CONFORMITY. -DWIGHT EISENHOWER. -1957.";
"TO SIN BY SILENCE WHEN THEY SHOULD PROTEST MAKES COWARDS OF MEN. -A. LINCOLN IF YOU WANT PEACE WORK FOR JUSTICE. - POPE PAUL VI".
MarksEmbroidered text on the viewer's left perimeter band between "FOR" and "ALL": "MADE WITH / MY HANDS, / HEART AND / SOUL. / 1999 / A. L. M.".
Historical NotesAmy DeLancey Selders is a disability rights advocate who worked at various Centers for Independent Living across the country. A native of Castle Shannon borough, Selders lives with Epilepsy, Lupus, Chronic Kidney Disease, hereditary Hemochromatosis, and Sjögren’s Syndrome. During her formative years, Selders observed the quilting tradition of her great-grandmother, who crafted quilts to celebrate family milestones. After completing her formal schooling, Selders worked as a Vista volunteer with Three Rivers Center for Independent Living (TRCIL) from 1990 to 1992. Here she received exposure to the tenets of the Independent Living Movement. The Independent Living Movement brought about a tectonic shift in the way people with mobility disabilities and complex support needs were supported in larger society. Formerly, these disabled individuals relied upon their families for home-based care and support. Personal homes frequently were not accessible for people with mobility disabilities. Individuals who encountered these barriers and did not have support at home were frequently sent to state-run institutions or nursing homes. Centers for Independent Living emerged from within the disability community as centers of advocacy and support to promote the transition of disabled individuals into community-based supported housing with appropriate attendant care. The Independent Living Movement centered the individual self-determination of disabled individuals to live independently. CILs also served as community centers and provided employment support. In 1998-1999, Selders began working for the Three Rivers Center for Independent Living (TRCIL) in Pittsburgh. Selders worked as a housing counselor, with the goal of transferring of people with mobility disabilities from nursing homes into community-based housing. In this role, Selders collaborated with the disabled individual to assess their support needs. Selders then worked to locate accessible housing within the confines of Section 8 housing. She also coordinated attendant care support for clients. This work was funded by a state Supportive Housing Demonstration Project grant. Selders worked for nine years at TRCIL. Selders incorporated her family legacy of quilting into her disability rights work. Selders created quilts that reflected facets of the Disability Rights Movement, including ADAPT and visitability. Selders is a self-taught quilter and experimented with different quilting patterns when creating a quilt honoring the Independent Living Movement. This quilt honors local members of the disability advocacy community, celebrates strides made in disability rights, and pays homage to various integral pieces of disability rights legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Selders also worked on short-term contract positions for numerous CILs across the country, including in San Jose, Chicago, San Matteo, Indianapolis, and San Francisco. Selders incorporated quilting into her outreach work at CILs. Selders is credited with leading the first Disability Pride parade, which took place in Chicago in 2004. Selders worked with disabled students from Chicago Public Schools on topics such as disability culture, life skills and financial training. Selders was also active in American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT), an activist organization within the Independent Living Movement. Selders participated in multiple ADAPT demonstrations, known as National Action events. Selders has a particular fondness for disability rights advocate Justin Dart, Jr., who helped to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act and is regarded as the “Godfather of the ADA.” An uptick in seizures prompted Selders to retire from her professional work.

Related person Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)

Related institution Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Related person John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 - 1963)

Related person Daniel Webster (1782 - 1852)

Related person James Russell Lowell (1819 - 1891)

Related person Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

Related person Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924)

Related person Dwight David Eisenhower (1890 - 1969)

Related person Pope Paul VI (1897 - 1978)

Related institution Three Rivers Center for Independent Living

Related person Justin Whitlock Dart Jr. (1930 - 2002)

Related person Ed Roberts