Civil War 150th: Central York students fuse art and history in quilt
Civil War 150th
The AP United States history class at Central York, Pa., High School has put forth another interesting project, a quilt representing the causes and contributors to the Civil War. “After studying the Antebellum Period,” the AP class’s website states, “the class chose to represent the causes of the Civil War as various shapes and colors to artfully visualize the factors leading to war. Every shape on the quilt has a meaning and was consciously placed.” Also of interest: Central York students capture York County history and release it to YouTube.
Greg Wimmer flagged his advanced placement class’s Civil War 150th project via Twitter: “Fusion of art & history – quilting & the contributors of #civilwar by h.s. students! http://goo.gl/DZknO @JamesMcClure.”
Fusion of art and history, indeed.
Working across disciplines is among the richest educational experiences.
It’s always interesting to see the intriguing projects this class, its teacher and the group of other educators who support these efforts come up with each year.
So, here’s an example of the narrative (see civilwarquilt.com for more) that goes with the quilt to explain how this fusion works:
BORDERS
“Although subtle, the border of the quilt and the border that cuts through the middle of the quilt are quite significant to the whole idea of Antebellum America. The tan border that cuts the quilt into two halves is the Mason Dixon line, the border between the northern and southern states.
“Not only was it the separation of the North and South, this line also defined the separation of two very different ideologies that influenced events of each “region” during this time. On the outside of the quilt, the color of the border meant more than the color of the Mason Dixon Line. In the North (the upper half of the quilt) the border is blue, similar to the Union military uniforms, and in the South (the lower half of the quilt) the border is grey, like the Confederate military uniforms.”
Also of interest:
Central York High School student history sleuths: ‘We are still unsure as to who built the home’.
