James Foundation Grant to Grow
Alliance Oral History Project  

The Robert and Ardis James Foundation has awarded a grant of $30,000 to the Alliance for American Quilts to help grow its highly regarded oral history project, Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories (Q.S.O.S.).

This invaluable grant partially funds the first two years of an ambitious five-year plan to grow, diversify and sustain Q.S.O.S., the single largest grassroots oral history project about quiltmakers. Since 1999, volunteers have conducted more than 1,000 quiltmaker interviews, full transcripts of which are shared on the Alliance website and archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.  

The James Foundation grant will be used to help accomplish the following principle goals:

• Streamline the process of transcribing and posting interviews.
• Take the oral history project global, by working with interested groups and volunteers abroad who wish to start affiliated projects in their own countries.
• Create and administer the new Ardis James Q.S.O.S. Scholar Program, inviting scholars to mine the rich resource of existing Q.S.O.S. interviews to produce essays, online galleries, exhibitions, or curricular materials. The selected scholars will receive an honorarium for their work.

Catherine James Paglia, trustee of the Foundation, said, "The Robert and Ardis James Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the visibility of quilting and textile arts around the world. We are delighted to offer our support to the Alliance for American Quilts in their important effort to preserve and share the oral histories of American quilt makers with a wider audience." One of the nation's largest charitable foundations, the James Foundation provides support to many American and international organizations, particularly in the areas of quilting and textile arts, international security, and higher education.

Robert and Ardis James.

Robert and Ardis James not only built one of the biggest and most important quilt collections in the world, but have displayed Vanderbilt-level generosity in the scope of their philanthropy related to quilt history and preservation. Their donation of more than 1,000 quilts and several million dollars helped establish the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which the foundation continues to support.  

"The Alliance for American Quilts is pleased to honor and recognize Ardis James, who died in July 2011 at the age of 85, and her important contributions to quilt history by naming its new scholarship program after her," said Amy Milne, executive director of the Alliance. "We feel she would have loved preserving not just quilts, but helping to keep the stories of quilters alive for future generations. This generous gift will help greatly in attracting additional donations, as the Alliance begins implementing the plan to expand and update its oral history project."

Please go to the Alliance website to sample the most recent interviews added to the Q.S.O.S. project. More than 140 volunteers have conducted these interviews of famous quilters and everyday quilters with wonderful stories, and anybody with an interest can get involved. A complete manual as well as video instructions for conducting your own Q.S.O.S. interviews are available at the Alliance website.

The Alliance for American Quilts, a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 by Karey Bresenhan, Nancy O'Bryant Puentes, Eunice Ray and Shelly Zegart, supports and develops projects to document, preserve, and share the history of quilts and quiltmakers. The AAQ brings together groups and individuals from the creative, scholarly and business worlds of quiltmaking to advance the recognition of quilts and their makers in American culture.