Camden's Betty Anderson speaks at historic quilt exhibit in Monroeville

Anderson at Monroeville Quilt Exhibit.

Last Thursday afternoon I had the pleasure of being in the audience to hear an outstanding presentation made by Camden’s Betty Anderson at a quilt show hosted by the Monroe County Museum in Monroeville. Anderson’s presentation was made before a sizeable audience in the Old Monroe County Courthouse’s courtroom, which was the model for the famous courtroom in the 1962 motion picture version of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Anderson should be no stranger to Wilcox County readers. Anderson, who grew up in Wilcox County, is widely known for operating Camden’s Shoe Shoppe & Quilt Museum, which is located on the corner of Planters and Union Streets in Camden. Anderson’s museum is in the old Camden Shoe Shoppe location, a successful business that was owned and operated by her father, Joe Anderson.

Anderson’s museum displays a wide variety of items including her father’s shoe repair equipment, historic furniture and clothing, as well as an assortment of antique quilts. Anderson brought a number of these quilts to Monroeville last Thursday and explained their origins and materials to the audience. Some of these quilts were made by Anderson’s mother and grandmother, Marie Coleman Anderson and Minder Coleman, respectively.

I was especially interested in Anderson’s discussion of how some 19^th Century quilts were designed to include secret codes. Quilts with these designs were often displayed outside homes, usually on porches, to relay secret messages to escaped slaves who were moving along the Underground Railroad. For example, quilts that included what was known as the “log cabin” design let escaped slaves know that the house was a safe house while quilts with the “bowtie” design told slaves that they needed to travel in disguise.

For individuals wanting to learn more about the historic quilts of Wilcox County, Anderson directed listeners to several books on the subject. She noted that the Black Belt Treasures store in Camden sells many of these books as well as a host of other books on local topics. Anderson also jokingly noted that if you can’t find her at her museum, she will probably be at Black Belt Treasures or somewhere in between in downtown Camden.

I was also especially interested to learn that Anderson makes old-timey lye soap and old-fashioned dolls, both of which can be seen at Black Belt Treasures. Anderson said that Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, another Wilcox County native, placed one of these dolls in a time capsule in Montgomery. Anderson said that it’s comforting to know that when the capsule is opened half a century from now, that her handmade doll will still be inside.

In the end, if anyone in the reading audience has an interest in quilts, I highly encourage you to visit the Monroe County Museum to see their historic quilt exhibit. The exhibit opened on Tuesday of last week and will run through Feb. 16. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday’s from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed on Sundays.