Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"1945 RED CROSS QUILT"

Date

1945

Materials

COTTON, WOOL

No. Pieces

1

Length

214

Width

168.5

Description

BLUE AND PINK QUILT WITH PATTERN OF 56 PINK DIAMONDS INTERLAID WITH BLUE DIAMONDS; PINK FABRIC DIAMONDS HAVE NAMES EMBROIDERED IN BLUE THREAD, LISTED BELOW. BLUE DIAMONDS HAVE AN EMBROIDERED FOUR PETAL DESIGN STITCHED IN FABRIC. QUILT HAS BLUE EMBROIDERED TEXT ON TWO CENTER DIAMONDS, “1945” AND “RED CROSS”. QUILT HAS FINISHED EDGES WITH PINK BORDERS. QUILT HAS FRAYING AND LOSS ON UPPER RIGHT EDGE; FABRIC AND EMBROIDERED TEXT IS FADED; QUILT HAS MINOR BROWN STAIN ON BACK AT LOWER EDGE; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. EMBROIDERED NAMES ON FRONT OF QUILT [ALPHABETICAL]: ANNAND, ASHMAN, BAILEY, BAKER, BARNES, BELL, BURNS, CARLSON, CARNELL, CHAMBERS, CHRISTIANSEN, CYNCH, DAYMON, DELANY, DEVEBER, DICKSON, DILATUSH, FALLON, FOSTER, GAIRNS, GIDDIE, GLADSTONE, GOBLE, GOING, GREGORY, HAGGLUND, HARRISON, HARWOOD, HATFIELD, HAUG, HINTON, HOLROYD, KEMMIS, KLOPPENBORG, MATKIN, MCEWEN, MCKENZIE, O’BRAY, PITTAWAY, PRESLEY, RACKETTE, REEVES, ROPER, SHERMAN, STEWART, STRATE, THOMAS, UDELL, WACHER, ZORN.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

DECORATIVE ARTS

FURNISHINGS

History

THE WATERTON PARK RED CROSS QUILT WAS CREATED BY WATERTON FAMILIES DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND WAS EMBROIDERED WITH THE SURNAMES OF WATERTON RESIDENTS LIVING IN THE PARK DURING THE HOMEFRONT PERIOD. THE QUILT FEATURES 50 NAMES EMBROIDERED ON THE SURFACE, ALL SURNAMES OF WATERTON FAMILIES IN THE COMMUNITY DURING WORLD WAR 2 ACCORDING TO BERT PITTAWAY IN A LETTER TO THE WATERTON NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION. THE QUILT WAS PART OF A RED CROSS SOCIETY INITIATIVE THAT SAW GLOBAL AND CANADIAN COMMUNITIES CREATE QUITS FOR SENDING OVERSEAS AND FOR RAISING FUNDS FOR THE RED CROSS. ACCORDING TO ONLINE INFORMATION FROM HALIFAX WOMEN’S HISTORY [HTTP://HALIFAXWOMENSHISTORY.CA/CANADIAN-COMFORT-QUILTS] AND ACTIVE HISTORY [HTTP://ACTIVEHISTORY.CA/2017/07/RED-CROSSES-AND-WHITE-COTTON-MEMORY-AND-MEANING-IN-FIRST-WORLD-WAR-QUILTS/], RED CROSS QUILTS WERE COMMONLY CREATED BY CANADIAN COMMUNITIES AS CIVILIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO WAR EFFORTS DURING BOTH WORLD WARS. THE QUILTS WERE SENT TO THE RED CROSS FOR DISTRIBUTION TO FAMILIES DISPLACED BY THE WAR OVERSEAS AND TO REFUGEES; QUILTS WERE ALSO RAFFLED PUBLICLY IN COMMUNITIES TO RAISE FUNDS FOR QUILTING GROUPS AND THE RED CROSS. THE WATERTON QUILT WAS RAFFLED IN 1945 AND WON BY MARY PITTAWAY OF WATERTON. BERT PITTAWAY DONATED THE QUILT TO THE WATERTON NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION FOR DISPLAY AT THE WATERTON HERITAGE CENTRE IN THE 1980S, IN MEMORY OF BERT’S PARENTS MARY AND JOHN EDWARD PITTAWAY. JOHN EDWARD PITTAWAY, FATHER OF JACK, BERTRAM, AND DENNIS PITTAWAY, BEGAN HIS MILITARY CAREER AS AN ARMY TRUMPETER IN AN IRISH MILITIA UNIT. J.E. PITTAWAY JOINED THE REGULAR ARMY IN NOVEMBER 1893, SERVING IN WORLD WAR 1 AND WORLD WAR 2, IN WORLD WAR 2 ACHIEIVING THE RANK OF BATTERY SERGEANT MAJOR. J.E. PITTAWAY MOVED TO WATERTON IN 1927 FROM IRELAND. J.E. PITTAWAY WORKED FOR THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AS A GARDENER AND THEN AS A CAMPGROUND CARETAKER. J.E. PITTAWAY DIED MARCH 13, 1956, WITH HIS FINAL TRIBUTE IN CALGARY ON MARCH 17, 1956. ACCORDING TO THE PARKS CANADA WEBSITE ON WATERTON NATIONAL PARK, MEMORY OF THE WARS WERE “…INSCRIBED ON LANDFORMS IN PLACE NAMES…AND THE CELEBRATION OF PEACE WAS GIVEN SYMBOLIC FORM IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WORLD’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL PEACE PARK IN 1932.” WATERTON NATIONAL PARK FEATURES LAKES, RIDGES, AND PEAKS NAMED WITH REFERENCES TO THE WORLD WARS, INCLUDING AVION RIDGE, FESTUBERT MOUNTAIN, AND MOUNT ALDERSON. IN 2017, THE WATERTON NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION DISSOLVED AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM WATERTON LAKES PARK FACILITATED THE TRANSFER OF THE COLLECTIONS TO OTHER INSTITUTIONS. THE 1945 WATERTON QUILT WAS DONATED TO THE GALT MUSEUM & ARCHIVES AS PART OF THE EFFORTS TO RE-HOME THE WATERTON NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION’S COLLECTION. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE LETTER FROM BERT PITTAWAY, DONATION NOTES FROM THE WATERTON NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION, INFORMATION FROM THE PARKS CANADA WEBSITE ON WATERTON LAKES PARK, AND NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS ON THE PITTAWAY FAMILY, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20170035000-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20170035000

Acquisition Date

2017-11

Collection

Museum

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