Pennington Bicentennial Quilts

As we look forward to the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States, we also are looking back 50 years to the 1976 Bicentennial, and the local quilts that were created to celebrate that event and other related historical anniversaries. (Yes, the 250th also is called the Semiquincentennial – as in half of five times 100 – but “250th” is so much shorter and easier – see Wikipedia.)

So we are looking for help to preserve the story of two historical Pennington quilts, and to remember the people who created them.

In Hopewell, there was the U. S. Bicentennial quilt in 1976, plus two additional historical quilts for anniversaries of the 1891 incorporation of Hopewell Borough – one for the Centennial in 1991 and the other for the 125th Anniversary in 2016.

And now we have two Pennington quilts: the Pennington U. S. Bicentennial quilt (1976), and the earlier Pennington Methodist Church Bicentennial Quilt (1974/75) that celebrated 200 years from the founding of the Pennington Methodist Church.

Both quilts are still with us, but we have few details about them and little information from documents, so please get in touch if you have more information to share.

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Pennington U. S. Bicentennial Quilt (1976)

The Pennington U. S. Bicentennial quilt from 1976 is in the collection of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society (HVHS), and was donated in 1985 as a gift of “The Quilt Committee.” Unfortunately, we have little information about it.

The quilt is large, and has blocks of white diamonds on a blue background, with 24 blocks in a 4 x 6 pattern. The blocks contain Pennington scenes with labels and founding dates. One white diamond near the center identifies the quilt: “1776 / Pennington / New Jersey / 1976.”

The only known written reference to the creation of the quilt is a request for volunteers to create a Pennington Quilt from the Hopewell Valley News in May 1975. The quilt also was reportedly displayed in the October 1976 “Quilted New Jersey” exhibit of bicentennial album quilts at the Newark Museum. [Newark Star Ledger, 10/16/1976]

We also have a photo of the quilt on display, courtesy of the HVHS, that shows the unfinished quilt in process – but the photo is undated and at an unknown location. The quilt top has not yet been quilted (to the back) or edged. It is mounted on a quilt stretcher (boards), with the top, matting, and backing visible (with pins around the edges) – ready for the quilt stitching process.

The photo also shows the process of quilting a pattern on the dark blue squares (which are faintly visible in some of the photos of the final quilt). At the bottom of the quilt is a paper pattern – an 8-pointed star with a ring of circles and a center “P” – which also has used to trace the pattern on a couple of the squares for quilting (stitching).

Bicentennial Quilt Blocks

The blocks on the Pennington U. S. Bicentennial quilt are described below, based on the labels, dates, and appearance (as readable). Many also are signed with initials or names which listed in braces as they can be read., but we only know the creators of two of the blocks. The quilt has 24 blocks in 6 rows with 4 squares each:

• Row 1 – Toll Gate School, 1966 – High School 1929, Junior High 1958  [ND / MOT?] – Building;
  – The Pennington Circle  [RL ccard?] – Overhead map;
  – Pennington Fire Company, 1891 – 2 flags, hose and helmet;
  – Pennington Library, Inc. 1918, Moved 1973  [BPT] – Red building
• Row 2 – Horse and rider – British redcoat jumping the Pennington Presbyterian fence?;
  – Pennington Players, 1951 – Tragedy and comedy masks;
  – Pennington Quality Market, 1928  [JMS] – Worker at counter;
  – Flynn’s Hardware, 1850  [A. Martia?] – Store exterior
• Row 3 – Trenton Railway Co. trolley, 1902  [DPM] – Car #210;
  – Gross Bros.  [JW] – Silos;
  – Kunkel Park  [M?????] – Tree and slides;
  – Pennington School, Founded 1838  [ECB, TGB] – Building and symbols
• Row 4 – United Methodist Church, 1774-1975 – Cross and Flame;
  – Twin Bridges, 1886  [MM] – Farmland?;
  – St. James R. C. Church, 1899 – Anna C Heidi [TT 11/16/1985] – Building;
  – Hopewell Valley Central High School, 1958? – Bulldog mascot
• Row 5 – N. R. Blackwell Funeral Service, est. 1881 – Horse-drawn hearse;
  – Pennington First Aid Squad, 1954 – [???] – Diane Monteleone – Symbol;
  – Skating under bridge?   [N. H. Ceretrs?];
  – Howe Nurseries, 1919  [DFJ] – Planting with shovel
• Row 6 – Home of Inez and Charlie Howell, circa 1700  [A ?? ????] – House and tree;
  – Churches – Presbyterian 1724, St. Matthews [1921? 1951]?, [Bethel] AME 1818?, Baptist 1902 – Cross and buildings;
  – Cointreau liqueur, 1943 – Symbol, slogan?;
  – Pennington Train Station, 1876, P W Co  [GMS, PSON?]

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Pennington Methodist Bicentennial Quilt (1974/75)

The Pennington Methodist Church Bicentennial quilt was created for the 1974 bicentennial of the founding of the Pennington First United Methodist Church.

It is currently hanging from the balcony in the sanctuary at the Pennington United Methodist Church on South Main Street.

The quilt is 6 feet long and 5 feet wide, with 20 blocks in a 4 x 5 pattern with red outlines. The blocks depict various themes and historical aspects of the church. The names of past ministers up to 1974 also are embroidered between the blocks.

We do not know who created which square, but a newspaper article lists the people who worked on the quilt:

Among those who worked on the quilt are: Mmes. Helen Shaffer, Marge Mertz, Virginia Salyerds, Ellen Risinger, Lois Fabri, Doris McGuire, Margaret Butterfield, Eunice Zrinko, Ernestine Lambert, Jean Chumney, Betty Jo Pennington, Frieda Consolloy, Margaret Cousins, Evelyn Ball, Susie Duryea, Dawn Bergin, Marge Hoffman, Chris Chervenak, Marie Lewis, Margaret Pine and Claire Thone from Germany, wife of a German exchange teacher at the Pennington School.

Mrs. Lawrence Moore, wife of the District Superintendent of the Central District, also returned to Pennington to embroider her husband’s name on the quilt as he is a former minister in Pennington. [HVN 11/27/1975]

The Pennington Methodist Bicentennial Quilt also was featured in a quilt exhibition at the end of 1976, and the exhibition booklet documented the individual squares (see below):

Commemorative Quilts: An Exhibition of the Festival of the Ten Crucial Days
In Cooperation With The New Jersey Bicentennial Commission,
Squibb Gallery, Princeton, N. J., December 22 – January 9

First United Methodist Church Bicentennial Quilt
on loan from the Church, Pennington, New Jersey
Made by the women of the Pennington Methodist Church, directed by Marian Wadsworth.

Methodist Quilt Blocks

As described in the exhibition program and further annotated here, the Pennington Methodist Church Bicentennial quilt has 20 squares with five rows of four squares each:

• Row 1 – Circuit Rider John Wesley [horse];
  – Jonathan Bunn tombstone, 1745-1851 (Church founder)
  – Bunn’s Barn (site of first services);
  – Captain Thomas Webb (with eye patch)
• Row 2 – Pennington School logo, 1839 (founded by the Church);
  – “Review” – Church belief symbol [chalice?];
  – Church Bicentennial, 1774-1974;
  – Methodist Hymnal (Charles Wesley, 1707-1788)
• Row 3 – Church building [trees];
  – “Rededicate” symbol [In prayer?];
  – “Renew Our Faith” [and sun?];
  – Minuteman
• Row 4 – Bell 1876 [Centennial?];
  – Church’s Strawberry Festival;
  – Church Activity House;
  – Children going to Sunday School
• Row 5 – Womens Society of Christian Services Symbol;
  – New Methodist Church Cross and Flame symbol [adopted 1968];
  – Chrismon Tree decorated in religious symbols;
  – Sunday School Building, “CMB” – The Clarkson Memorial Building

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We welcome updates and corrections, and more information about historical community quilts around the Hopewell Valley.

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More on Historic Hopewell Valley Quilts

Historic quilts from the Hopewell Valley, celebrating events including the U. S. Bicentennial and anniversaries of the founding of local towns.

Posts

• Pennington Bicentennial Quilts
• Hopewell Borough Centennial (1991) and 125th Anniversary (2016) Quilts
• Hopewell Bicentennial Quilt (1976)

Documents

• Pamphlets Collection: Information on local quilts

Images

• Image Gallery: Local Historic Quilts