History Stitched onto a Sack

A sack Rose, a slave and mother, gave to her 9-year-old daughter the day she was sold away. They never saw each other again.  

The stitching on the sack was done by Ruth Middleton, who lived in Philadelphia, in 1921, to record this piece of her family history. The sack somehow ended up for sale, most likely given away to a charity shop when Ruth died in 1988. 

She was sold at age 9 in South Carolina

it held a tattered dress 3 handfulls of

pecans a braid of Roses hair. Told her

It be filled with my LOVE always

she never saw her again

Ashley is my grandmother

Ruth Middleton

1921

It was discovered at a flea market some 20 years later, which is when the research into the names and dates was carried out. Mark Ausslander, an associate professor of anthropology at Central Washington University,was one of the researchers. The sack tells a part of American history and today it is on display in the Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

 To read more about the sack visit:

http://kuow.org/post/slave-mothers-love-56-carefully-stitched-words
Mark Ausslander's research appeared in the academic journal Southern Spaces. Ashley's sack is on loan from Middleton Place to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.