On this day in 1820, pioneering English nurse Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy. Nightingale, nicknamed the Lady with the Lamp, was the lead nurse in a unit caring for British and allied soldiers in Turkey during the Crimean War, spending many hours making night rounds in the wards. She founded the first scientifically based nursing school in London. International Nurses Day is observed on May 12 each year commemorates her birth and celebrates the important role of nurses in health care.
This Wild Goose Chase quilt was made by the mother of Mrs. Van Dusen in the 1850’s in North Ridgeville, Ohio. At the age of 84, Mrs. Van Dusen gave the quilt to Daisy Lamberton of Battle Creek, Michigan, who documented the quilt as part of the Michigan Quilt Project in 1987. From this Quilt Index record:
“Mrs. Van Dusen said her mother made this quilt during Civil War Years. Her mother was a nurse. I worked in OAD/PA, the Pentagon, Washington D.C., I was a member of an Antiques Club. Each week we had a speaker pertaining to different subjects. A speaker who collected quilts, said she had never seen a double and triple quilted quilt- thought it had outstanding work on it.”
View this quilt on The Quilt Index to find out! Read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about that quilt.
Posted by Amy E. Milne
Executive Director, Quilt Alliance