Traveling Quilts – Gainesville Exhibit and Presentation a Success

Don’t miss the Quilt display in Gainesville!

The Lake Apopka Farmworker Memorial Quilts went on display in Gainesville, Sept 9, 2013, at the Alachua County Main Library where they will remain on the library’s third floor until Oct. 27^th.  An opening reception, held from 11 am until 1pm on September 21st in a library meeting room was attended by more than 25 people.

 

Jeannie Economos opened the reception with a timeline power point presentation and talk about the history, including environmental problems, of Lake Apopka from 1940’s through today.   Sarah Downs followed with a description of how the idea and creation of the quilts began and subsequently evolved.  Then Linda Lee, Geraldean Matthew and Betty Dubose, all former Lake Apopka farmworkers, each spoke, movingly, of their personal histories and their struggles for the recognition of their collective problems and their rights after the closing of the farms. 

   

 

 

The final speaker was Dale Slongwhite, author of an upcoming book soon to be published based on the oral history interviews with  Lake Apopka farmworkers that capture both their compelling personal stories and the broader scope of the lives and conditions faced by the farmworkers on Lake Apopka.  The book, which we are all looking forward to, will be published in spring, 2014, by the University of Florida Press. 

 Congratulations Dale!

A question and answer discussion, and refreshments, followed these presentations.