SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR QUILT, 1898
The Politics
The ten-week Spanish-American war, mostly forgotten today, was fought off the coast of Cuba to support Cuba’s war of independence from Spain. US-Spanish relations were tense, with the sensationalist “yellow press” media stirring anti-Spanish sentiments. When the naval ship USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, the United States went to war supporting Cuba. With Spain’s defeat, Cuba gained independence while we took over control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines from Spain.
The Quilt
Despite its short duration, the war inspired patriotic items like this quilt. Several in this exact design survive, suggesting a pattern may have been printed in a nationally distributed media outlet.
Beaver and Vernango Counties, Pennsylvania
Cotton
90” x 75”
Loan courtesy of Julie Silber