Quilt

Quilt

Date

1919

Description

Quilt, W.C. T.U., 1919 Exhibition label from "Milton Made" (2008): Subscription quilt Made by members of the Milton W.C.T.U.,1919 Top: cotton Backing: cotton This subscription quilt was created in 1919, the year Prohibition passed as the 18th Constitutional Amendment. Prohibition refers to the period 1920 to 1933, during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption was banned throughout the United States. The names of two politicians, President Woodrow Wilson and Delaware Gov. John G. Townsend appear embroidered in the lower half of the quilt. While President Wilson supported temperance and moderation, he did not support total prohibition and his veto of the Volstead Act (the Prohibition Act) was over-ridden by Congress. Delaware's Gov. John G. Townsend was a supporter of Prohibition, earning the nomination for governor of the Prohibition Party. However, by the 1920s he took the middle ground and favored changes to the Volstead Act. Later, he accepted the repeal and was known to take a drink socially from time to time. Prominent Milton family names are found throughout the quilt. Its central square reads "For God and Home and Every Land" and lists the W.C.T.U. officers, including Lillian Cade, who served as the group's president for 22 years, before she retired the post.

 

Provenance

Early MHS record book #340 states, "Quilt was found in the upper floor (attic) of the William Vent home on Mill Street. Upn the passing of Mr. and Mrs. Vent, the quilt was taken to their [the?] home of Mr. & Mrs. Clarence Vent. Mrs. Vent told Mary Morgan about having the quilt and eventually gave it to her to give to the museum. This was about 1978."