From the documentary, The Quilted Conscience
Courtesy Ruth Kupfer, Lincoln Quilt Coordinator
Courtesy Tracy Morrow
Enjoy these news stories about The Quilted Conscience as well as about related people and projects.
Use the dates menu below to move quickly to those years.
2021
March 17, 2021 University of Chicago
UChicago’s Crown Family School dedicates building after founding dean Edith Abbott: This important event honors Edith Abbott – social work pioneer and first woman to lead a U.S. graduate school. Here is an impressive video presentation to celebrate The Dedication of Edith Abbott Hall at the University of Chicago.
2020
December 16, 2020 TQC Artistic Advisor featured in The New York Times
Gone but Never Forgotten in a Quilt – A new work by Peggie Hartwell, Artistic Advisor for The Quilted Conscience, is given special attention in the New York Times: “Members of the national Women of Color Quilters Network draw on personal experiences of injustice, turning their needlework into symbols of liberation, resistance and empowerment.”
March 11, 2020 PBS American Masters & Unladylike2020
Grace Abbott – UNLADYLIKE2020 – Grace Abbott is featured in a new video portrait as part of the Unladylike2020/American Masters series for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). “At the core of UNLADYLIKE2020 are the rich biographies of 26 trailblazing American women who broke barriers in male-dominated fields at the turn of the 20th century, such as science, business, politics, journalism, sports, and the arts.”
2019
September 10-22, 2019 Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer
Ten Years of Newcomer Quilts – The Quilted Conscience Project was honored with an exhibition at the Stuhr Museum of Grand Island, Nebraska. The event featured ten Newcomer story quilts, and celebrated the first decade of TQC exhibits (2009-2019).
July 15, 2019 European journal of American studies
A Sister’s Memories: Review – An insightful review by Laura Visser-Maessen of A Sister’s Memories: The Life and Work of Grace Abbott from the Writings of her Sister, Edith Abbott.
May 7, 2019 Grand Island Public Schools
TQC’s 10th Anniversary quilt – created by the Newcomers class of teacher Tracy Morrow – has been completed and is being prepared for display in the GIPS.
March 28, 2019 University of Nebraska
The 2019 “Nebraska Lectures: Chancellor’s Distinguished Speaker Series” featured a talk by John Sorensen on “Grace and Edith Abbott: Nebraska’s Social Justice Sisters” – a tribute to the two great women whose work inspired The Quilted Conscience project. Here’s an article on the event from Nebraska Today: Social Justice Sisters Featured in Nebraska Lecture
2018
September 28, 2018 The Grand Island Independent
Courage Through Quilts: GI students tell stories of homelands on quilt blocks
September 27, 2018 The Grand Island Independent
TQC: 10th Anniversary Workshop Photos
September 27, 2018 KSNB: Local NBC-TV News
Quilted Conscience program allows immigrant students to tell their stories
2017
November 4, 2017 National Humanities Conference
An Experiential Workshop of The Quilted Conscience project, hosted by John Sorensen and Peggie Hartwell at the 2017 National Humanities Conference in Boston. In this workshop session, panelists were shown a short Nebraska Public TV segment concerning TQC, then Ms. Hartwell and Mr. Sorensen discussed their respective areas of expertise, and participants were taught how they can create their own TQC workshops.
September 2017 Journal of Folklore & Education
TQC Perspectives: Celebrating 10 Years of The Quilted Conscience (2008-2018) – the American Folklore Society’s Journal of Folklore & Education features a well illustrated article about The Quilted Conscience in celebration of the upcoming 10th anniversary of our project. The issue is titled “Newcomers and Belonging” and highlights how educators in K-12, college, museum, and community settings are working with refugees and immigrants across the U.S.
September 14, 2017 Doane University
A screening/discussion of The Quilted Conscience film at Doane University in Crete, Nebraska, features TQC colleagues Susan Hertzler of the Lincoln Public Schools and Christa Yoakum of Nebraska is Home, and a display of past TQC quilts.
August 2017 Nebraska State Fair
The Newcomers quilt from the Grand Island, Nebraska, Public Schools has won another Blue Ribbon at the Nebraska State Fair! This is the Newcomers program’s seventh prize-winning entry in the past seven years.
May 2, 2017 Augusta Chronicle
Grace Abbott project places first at National History Day competition – Two Georgia students win first place at State level for the Senior Group Documentary Division, and move ahead to National contest
March 20, 2017 The Grand Island Independent
‘Abbott Sisters Day’ to celebrate legacy of Edith and Grace Abbott – celebrating Abbott Sisters Day 2017.
March 14, 2017 Lincoln Public Schools News
Woven Dreams: Quilt project unifies stories of varied pasts – an illustrated article about a new TQC workshop at the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, NE., with Lincoln Public School students whose families have come to the U.S. from Iraq, Burma, Thailand, Venezuela, Myanmar, Guatemala and Congo.
March 2, 2017 International Quilt Festival, Houston
Fabric Artist Linda Syverson Guild completes her new quilt Sisters and Comrades Through All the Years – a tribute to Grace and Edith Abbott. Her artwork is scheduled to debut at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in November 2-15, 2017. Read a statement by the artist about her quilt.
January 22, 2017 DuSable Museum of African-American History
A screening/discussion of The Quilted Conscience film hosted by John Sorensen and Peggie Hartwell at Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African-American History. The event was very well attended, and included an enthusiastic Q&A session. As well, the University of Chicago Press sold a goodly number of copies of our Grace Abbott book, A Sister’s Memories!
2016
November 2, 2016 Times Literary Supplement
Amazing Grace – a survey/review of A Sister’s Memories is published in The Times Literary Supplement, the leading international weekly for literary culture.
October 29, 2016 Nebraska Book Awards
Dr. Ann Coyne of the Grace Abbott School of Social Work/UNO accepted the Nebraska Book Award for John Sorensen’s Abbott book, A Sister’s Memories. Dr. Coyne reports: “The event was packed. People were sitting on the steps and standing against the walls of the auditorium of the Nebraska Historical Museum. I read one of Grace’s speeches and gave them a synopsis of the book. There was a lot of interest!”
October 26-28, 2016 Grantmakers for Education
Grantmakers for Education (“the nation’s largest and most diverse network of education grantmakers dedicated to improving educational outcomes and increasing opportunities for all learners”) included a strong TQC presence at their National Conference in Denver. At the heart of TQC’s GFE participation was a prominent, conference-long display of our original Sudanese-American “Dreams & Memories” quilt, along with a video kiosk showing excerpts from our TQC film.
About GFE
September 2016 Social Service Review
“Uphill All the Way”: Grace Abbott and Women’s Work in Building the Welfare State – an impressive essay on A Sister’s Memories – is published in Social Service Review, a major journal that focuses “on pressing social issues, promising social work practices, and social welfare policies.
September 20, 2016 Nebraska Library Commission
John Sorensen’s A Sister’s Memories: The Life and Work of Grace Abbott is the winner of the 2016 Nebraska Book Award – Nonfiction for Historical Biography!
May 8, 2016 Nebraska MOSAIC
Program Helps Inspire Refugee to Tackle Dream Career in Childhood Home by Lindsay Esparrago
Mu Ku Taw made blocks for the first Lincoln H.S. TQC project.
2015
October 7, 2015 The Grand Island Independent
Working With the Soul of the Fabric by Barrett Stinson
October 7, 2015 The Grand Island Independent by Harold Reutter
OF QUILTING RENOWN Quilt artist to teach workshops in Grand Island
Renowned quilter Peggie Hartwell has returned to Grand Island.
October 2015 American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine Volume 23, Number 5, Issue 136 , p. 17-20
Memories and Dreams by Suzanne Smith Arney
Nebraska quilter Kay Grimminger was unfamiliar with hyenas; student Nyabiel Khor had never made a quilter’s knot.
Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine.
©2015 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
February 10, 2015 Association of Art Museum Directors
A Warm Welcome at Joslyn Art Museum (Karen students)
January 21, 2015 The Paris Review
The Ants of God, The budding South Sudanese community in Omaha, Nebraska by Terese Svoboda
2014
August 7, 2014 Denver Film Society’s “Women + Film” Screening
The Quilted Conscience Film and Community Conversation: an article from the Aurora Sentinel.
June 26, 2014 Kearney Hub
Great Plains ancestors portray diversity in quilts with 19 on display dating back to 1860s by Cassie Kernick
April 24, 2014 Omaha World-Herald
Quilt created by Karen refugees in Lincoln showcases memories of homeland, dreams for future by Shelby Fleig
March 23, 2014 Lincoln Journal-Star
Final product of Karen group’s quilt project unveiled at Sheldon by Chris Heady
2013
Sept. 20, 2013 Lincoln Journal-Star
Stories show diversity that makes Lincoln’s culture rich by Margaret Reist
June 20, 2013 Omaha World-Herald
Nebraska immigrants sew hopes, dreams into quilt in film by Eric Grace
June 13, 2013 NET News
‘It Makes Us Feel Like Home’: Reaching Out to Nebraska’s Immigrant and Refugee Communities by Hilary Stohs-Krause
2012
November 11, 2012 NTV/ABC-TV
Film Creates a Deeper Understanding of Immigrant Struggles by Nataly Tavidian
November 10, 2012 The Grand Island Independent
Documentary film brings memories, dreams into full view by George Ayoub
November 7, 2012 The Grand Island Independent
Sudanese girls’ quilting experience depicted in documentary by Harold Reutter
2011
December 5, 2011 KIOS-FM, Omaha Public Radio
Film Streams Discussion, Q&A with John Sorensen, with additional comments by some of the Sudanese-American quilters, led by KIOS Program Director, Bob Coate.
September 30, 2011 Omaha Reader
John Sorensen’s Decades-Long Magnificent Obsession with the Abbott Sisters by Leo Adam Biga – Multi-media Project Debuts New Documentary, ‘The Quilted Conscience’
2010
November 13, 2010 The Grand Island Independent
G.I. celebrates naming of Grace Abbott School of Social Work by Amy Schweitzer
Sept. 14, 2010 UNL Newsroom
‘The Quilted Conscience‘ opens Sept. 14 at quilt museum
2009
October 23, 2009 The Grand Island Independent
Andindi back from helping Sudanese use tractor to produce crops by Harold Reutter
March 22, 2009 The Grand Island Independent
Abbott Sisters Day celebrated with quilt project by Tracy Overstreet
March 21, 2009 The Grand Island Independent
‘Quilted Conscience’ project shows Sudanese girls’ dreams by Harold Reutter
2008
September 26, 2008 The Grand Island Independent
Love of football leads two Sudanese girls to Barr’s team by Harold Reutter
September 20, 2008 The Grand Island Independent
Quilt project helps Sudanese girls tell of memories, hopes by Harold Reutter
September 13, 2008 The Grand Island Independent
Sudanese students to take part in quilting project
2004
January 30, 2004 The New York Times, The New York Times Learning Network, Teacher Connections
Expressions of Hope and Faith, Inspired by the Work of a Freed Slave
by Grace Glueck (story about Peggie Hartwell’s quilt on Harriet Powers)