Album Quilt
“The development of the Baltimore album quilt type, unique to central Maryland and made during a remarkably brief period, depended upon the interaction of large numbers of women of English and German heritage in an area where quantities of expensive imported fabrics and locally made textiles were readily available.” (Jennifer Goldsborough, Chief Curator at the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore Album Quilt Lecture, March 6, 1995).
This quilt is unique as it has various symbolic motifs specific to the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows – the heart in hand, the dove, the three links, the shining sun, the bee hive, the moon, the Bible, and the serpent on the rod.
The Independent Order of the Odd Fellows was founded in London, but its beginning in America was in Baltimore in 1819.