A quilt signed by women’s movement leaders serves as the centerpiece of today’s Blast into the Past celebration hosted by the University Women’s Center.
The following signatures appear on the quilt:
ù Gloria Stienem, co-owner of Ms. Magazine, author, activist;
ù Bonnie Raitt, recording artist;
ù Corretta Scott King, human and women’s rights activist and widow of Martin Luther King Jr.;
ù Lily Tomlin, actress;
ù Audre Lorde, feminist author;
ù Martha Boesing, local playwright; and others.
The Women’s Center compiled the signatures in 1981 by sending out squares of fabric. Once signed and returned, the squares and were sent to Pequot Lakes, Minn., for assembly into a full quilt. The signatures were sewn over with black thread to make them stand out and last longer.
The quilt was raffled off at a 1982 Women’s Center fund-raiser. The actual winner was ineligible to accept the prize, so the quilt was given instead to Waneta Anderson, who had attended the event in support of her daughter Kirsten, a women’s studies major and Women’s Center intern.
After warming Waneta’s bed for several years, the quilt was passed down to Kirsten. In October, 19 years after the signatures were collected, Kirsten sent the quilt back to the Women’s Center.

Kane Loukas welcomes comments at [email protected]