Memories of Durham Story Quilt
Each element on this quilt features different stories from throughout Durham's history. The quilt was originally inspired by the countless oral histories collected by the Museum of Durham History, featuring people with first-hand experience of these events. Click on a button and learn about the different memories of Durham's citizens.
Credits
Citations
"The Story Quilt" project was led by Katie Spencer Wright, Sauda Zahra, Nancy Cash, and Veronica Carlisle, inspired by a quilt at NCCU. The process began with oral histories of Durham residents, a core focus of the MoDH. Throughout the process, volunteers played a crucial role, in supporting research, conducting interviews, and gathering key details.
Lead quilter Sauda Zahra created a workflow process emphasizing three themes: Pride, Struggle, and Community. The quilt's elements are arranged geographically, with Nancy handling East Durham, Sauda Downtown, and Veronica Carlisle overseeing West Durham. The team spent over 300 hours crafting the quilt, capturing Durham's history and spirit through their collective effort.
The cornerstones for the Memories of Durham Story Quilt are Struggle, Pride and Community and these themes were integral to the design concept for creating the story quilt. After listening to interviews from Durham residents who shared memories of Durham during the 1940s to 1980s, it became apparent that regardless of race, class, economic status, neighborhoods, education and religion, the interviewees experienced struggle, pride, and a sense of community in Durham. How the interviewees experienced struggle, pride and community depended on the personal or communal lens in which they recalled their memories of Durham. A memory may have described pride, struggle or community as a separate experience; or pride, struggle and community as multiple experiences interconnected to a single memory.
Pride expressed in family, growing up in close-knit neighborhoods; economic possibilities from the tobacco and medical industries; coalition building to progress as a city; Durham’s rich cultural heritage; prominent family legacies; Durham’s growth from a small town to a city; and historical buildings and educational institutions that bridge the past, present, and future.
The cornerstones for the Memories of Durham Story Quilt are Struggle, Pride and Community and these themes were integral to the design concept for creating the story quilt. After listening to interviews from Durham residents who shared memories of Durham during the 1940s to 1980s, it became apparent that regardless of race, class, economic status, neighborhoods, education and religion, the interviewees experienced struggle, pride, and a sense of community in Durham. How the interviewees experienced struggle, pride and community depended on the personal or communal lens in which they recalled their memories of Durham. A memory may have described pride, struggle or community as a separate experience; or pride, struggle and community as multiple experiences interconnected to a single memory.
Struggle experienced navigating two Durhams separated by race and class; people treated differently; access and opportunities denied to segments of the population; poverty; the civil rights movement; and surviving during the recession.
The cornerstones for the Memories of Durham Story Quilt are Struggle, Pride and Community and these themes were integral to the design concept for creating the story quilt. After listening to interviews from Durham residents who shared memories of Durham during the 1940s to 1980s, it became apparent that regardless of race, class, economic status, neighborhoods, education and religion, the interviewees experienced struggle, pride, and a sense of community in Durham. How the interviewees experienced struggle, pride and community depended on the personal or communal lens in which they recalled their memories of Durham. A memory may have described pride, struggle or community as a separate experience; or pride, struggle and community as multiple experiences interconnected to a single memory.
Community embraced through a melting pot of people and diverse cultures; coming together in public spaces and attending events; family ties; religious affiliations; historical neighborhoods; witnessing pivotal moments in Durham’s history; and individual, family and city roots intertwined in Durham’s identity.