Description
The community of Gee’s Bend is located on the bank of the Alabama River, in what is now the town of Boykin, Alabama. The impoverished, community, mostly made of the descendants of slaves, has been made famous by The Gee’s Bend Quilt Collective.
The stamp design of Housetop, featuring the quilt pattern of the same name, was created by the late Mary Lee Bendolph of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. Housetop is just one of the many quilts created by Mary Lee and the other quilters in Gee’s Bend, a small rural African American community located on a bend in the Alabama River.
The quilts of Gee’s Bend are recognized by art historians, quilt scholars, and collectors for their bold, modernist aesthetic, improvisational techniques, and creative use of recycled clothing and fabric. The quilters of Gee’s Bend are celebrated for their unique style and their ability to make something beautiful from humble materials.
The Housetop quilt pattern, in particular, has become an iconic representation of the quilts of Gee’s Bend. It consists of a large, central diamond shape, surrounded by smaller diamonds and rectangles arranged in a circular pattern. This quilt pattern is said to represent a house, with the large diamond shape in the center symbolizing the roof.
The stamp honoring Mary Lee Bendolph and the quilts of Gee’s Bend was issued in 2006, and was the first stamp to honor a living African-American quilt maker. It was also the first time the United States Postal Service used a quilt pattern on a stamp. The stamp serves as a tribute to the unique craftsmanship of the quilters of Gee’s Bend, and a recognition of their hard work and creativity.
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