Papers and Presentations

Since 1979 Laurel Horton has delivered oral papers and informal presentations for academic conferences, symposiums, and museum audiences, throughout the United States and parts of Europe. Though many remain unpublished, these oral presentations reflect the same careful research, thoughtful analysis, and elegant style that characterize her published work.

“Two Centuries of Tradition and Innovation in Southern Quilts,” Sumter (SC) Gallery of Art, October 24, 2009.

“Swedish Quilts in the Context of the Hemslöjd Movement,” The Global Quilt Symposium, InternationalQuiltStudyCenter, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, April 3, 2009.

“Early White Quilts and Coverlets in the Backcountry,” SchieleMuseum Backcountry Lifeways Studies Symposium, GastoniaNC, February 28, 2009.

“Early White Bedcovers in the Carolinas,” Southern Quilt Conference, HuntsvilleAL, March 2008.

“Embodied Memory in a Family Quilt Collection,” Du décousu au cousu méticuleux: from patchwork to quilt, conference organized by Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches des Civilisations et de la literature des Langues Anglaises (CERCLA) and Conseil Scientifique et École Doctorale (Université de Rouen), November 8-9, 2007.

“Multiple Meanings in the AFS Women’s Section Quilt,” American Folklore Society, QuébecCity, October 2007.

“The Underground Railroad Quilt Code: The Experience of Belief,” invited presentation, American Quilt Study Group seminar, LowellMA, October 2007.

“Mary Black’s Family Quilts: Sources and Strategies for Research.” WinterthurMuseum, WinterthurDE, April 2007.

“What We Know About Southern Quilts, and What We Think We Know,” keynote address, Southern Quilt Conference, RustonLA, March 2007.

“Quilts and Codes of the Underground Railroad,” Greenville (SC) Museum of Art, February 2007.

“Early Quiltmaking among the Ulster-Scots in the Southern United States.” British Quilt Study Group. Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 2006.

“Seeking Truth and Beauty: The Roles of Narrative and Belief in the Quilt Code Debate.” American Folklore Society, Milwaukee, October 2006.

“Early Quiltmaking among the Scots-Irish in the Southern United States.” Gordon Conference on Southern Decorative Art and Material Culture. Winston-SalemNC, October 2006.

“The Underground Railroad Quilt Code”: Fact, Fiction, Belief, or Myth?” American Folklore Society, Atlanta, October 2005.

“Memory and Meaning in a Family Quilt Collection.” Collectors, Collecting, and Collections Symposium, InternationalQuiltStudyCenter, LincolnNE, February 2005.

“Mary Black’s Family Quilts: The Inside Story.” American Quilt Study Group, VancouverWA, October 2004.

“Underwear as Outerwear.” American Folklore Society, Albuquerque, October 2003.

“Quilts and Cultural Values: Gender, Race, and Social Class,” keynote address, British Quilt Study Group Seminar, Cambridge, England, September 2003.

“You Too Can Do Quilt Research” workshop. British Quilt Study Group, Cambridge, England, September 2003.

“Revealed in Murky Research: The Underground Railroad Quilt Code.” California Folklore Society, Sacramento, April 12, 2003.

“Documenting the Design Process in Historic Quilts.” Wild By Design Symposium, InternationalQuiltStudyCenter, Lincoln, Nebraska, March 1, 2003.

“Mosaic Patchwork: A Personal Experience Narrative.” Mosaic Quilts Symposium, The CharlestonMuseum, November 9, 2002.

“Dress Codes: Marking Identity on the Dance Floor.” American Folklore Society, RochesterNY, October 17, 2002.

“Western North Carolina Quilts.” MountainHeritageCenter, WesternCarolinaUniversity, January 15, 2002.

“Men in Skirts.” American Folklore Society, Anchorage, October 20, 2001.

“Men Making Quilts.” AlaskaStateMuseum, Juneau, May 13, 2001; also Anchorage Museum of Art and History, October 21, 2001.

“South Carolina Folk Arts: Past and Present,” panelist. SCTAN Conference on Folklore, Folklife, and Traditional Arts, Columbia, SC, March 10, 2001.

“Lingering Perceptions of America’s Pioneer Cultural Heritage.” American Folklore Society, Columbus, OH, October 2000.

“American Quiltmaking Traditions,” Högskolan på Gotland, Visby, Sweden, October 2000.

“Envisioning the Dancer’s World,” (with Paul Jordan-Smith). American Folklore Society, Memphis, TN, October 1999.

“Interviewing Quilters,” pre-conference workshop. American Quilt Study Group Seminar, East Lansing, MI, October 1999.

“Material Evidence of the Contra Dance Community.” American Folklore Society, Portland, OR, October 1998.

“Inversion of Memory in an ‘Old-Fashioned’ Quilting.” American Folklore Society, Austin, TX, October 1997.

“Interviewing Quilters,” pre-conference workshop. American Quilt Study Group, Scottsdale, AZ, October 1996.

“Tradition and/as Fashion: South Carolina Quilts, 1914—1945,” (with Jane Przybysz). American Folklore Society, Pittsburgh, PA, October 1996.

“Southern Quilts: Variations Across Time, Region, and Class,” Decorative Arts Symposium “Southern Life, Southern Style: Plain to Fancy, 1835—1935,” AtlantaHistoryCenter, April 1996.

“Quiltmaking in Ireland and America.” Research Forum: “What’s American About American Quilts?” NationalMuseum of American History, Washington, DC, March 1995.

“Interviewing Quiltmakers.” Workshop. Quilters’ Connection, Lexington, MA, March 1994.

“Interviewing Quiltmakers.” Workshop. California Heritage Quilt Project, South San Francisco and Santa Ana, January 1994.

“Quiltmaking in Ireland and America: Parallel Traditions.” American Folklore Society, Jacksonville, FL, October 1992.

“Future Trends in Quilt Research.” Panel, American Folklore Society, Oakland, CA, October 1990.

“Textile Traditions in South Carolina’s Dutch Fork.” Bits and Pieces Symposium, Franklin and MarshallCollege, LancasterPA, June 1990.

“American Quilt Study: 1888—1988: Attitudes, Technology, and Collecting.” American Folklore Society, Cambridge, MA, October 1988.

“Perspectives on African-American Quilts,” Southern Quilt Symposium, Chattanooga, TN, March 22, 1988.

“European Influences on Early South Carolina Quilts,” American Folklore Society, Cincinnati, OH, October 1985.

“A Walk Through the QuiltGarden,” NationalHumanitiesCenter, Research Triangle Park, NC, April 1985.

“Have You Read Any Good Quilts Lately?” NationalHumanitiesCenter, Research Triangle Park, NC, April 1984.

“Social Fabric: South Carolina’s Traditional Quilts.” Presented to numerous groups in many states, 1984—2000.

“Nineteenth Century Quilts in Macon County, North Carolina.”

• Southern Quilt Symposium, Chattanooga, TN, April 1983.
• American Quilt Study Group, San Rafael, CA, October 1983.

“Economic Influences on German and Scotch-Irish Quilts in Rowan County, North Carolina.”

• Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society, Frankfort, September 1981.
• American Folklore Society, Los Angeles, October 1979.
• North Carolina Quilt Symposium, Raleigh, May 1979.
• Women and Folklore Conference, Philadelphia, April 1979.