History found in Maine quilts is KHS Aug. 18 topic

AUGUSTA — Laurie LaBar, chief curator of history and decorative arts at the Maine State Museum will be the Kennebec Historical Society Facebook Live speaker on Wednesday, Aug. 18.
LaBar is a former archaeologist and author of “Maine Quilts: 250 Years of Comfort and Community,” co-published by the Maine State Museum and Down East Books.
To view the presentation, visit the KHS Facebook page at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 18, and the video will air live. It will also be available to watch later. Those watching live may submit in the comments section during the presentation.
For more than 200 years, Maine women kept farms, businesses and families together while men were at sea, at war or in the woods. The quilts the women made are striking and often beautiful works of art. But they can also reveal information about how they lived, the social networks that supported them and the ways Maine changed through the years. Most Maine quilters were middle-class women, who are usually absent from historical records. The information we can glean from their quilts enriches the story of Maine’s past.

PHOTO; Laurie LaBar (Submitted photo)