[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S2877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING MORTANA MCCORMICK

 Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I rise today to speak to you 
on behalf of the citizens of West Virginia. The West Virginia 
Department of Culture and History has named 1998 ``The Year of the 
Quilt.'' In the Appalachian Mountain region, and particularly in the 
great state of West Virginia, the tradition of native crafting, 
including quilting, has thrived uninterrupted for over two hundred 
years.
  In 1968, my wife, Sharon, along with a group of community-minded West 
Virginians assisted a talented group of quilters to form Mountain 
Artisans, a nonprofit group comprised of gifted quilt makers, to help 
in the preservation and exposure of this artful tradition of design and 
talent. Many West Virginians considered quilting a part of the mountain 
state's heritage. My wife and I are particularly fond of the Mountain 
Artisans. When we were expecting our first child, in the late 1960's, 
the group graciously decided to create a quilt for our first-born. With 
the assistance of the Sod Sewing Group from Sod, West Virginia, the 
quilt was completed in mid-September of 1970. The beautiful quilt, 
which is known as ``The Rockefeller Quilt'' was displayed at the 
Rockefeller home and today, adorns the wall just outside my office in 
the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
  One master quilter I especially admire is Mortana McCormick of Sod, 
West Virginia, who contributed to the creation of The Rockefeller 
Quilt. Ms. McCormick, a distinguished quilter, has represented the 
State well and helped put our state on the ``interior design and 
fashion'' map. She has contributed to fashion patchwork designs for 
Barbra Streisand and museum collections displayed in West Virginia and 
internationally. Mortana McCormick is just one of the talented artisan-
quilters that call West Virginia home. I ask my distinguished 
colleagues to join me in recognizing this long standing tradition and 
art, and its many talented artists, including Ms. Mortana 
McCormick.

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