Blanket Stories: Western Door, Salt Sacks, Three Sisters

A site-specific installation commissioned by the Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York

This proxy blanket represents an old quilt from my great-grandmother and namesake, Jane Nichols. She was born in Pittsburgh in 1845 and at age 17 she worked as a cartridge maker in the Allegheny Arsenal for the Union Army. On September 17, 1862, the same day as the Battle of Antietam, the arsenal exploded, killing 78 young co-workers, mostly women. Luckily, for my family, Jane chose to take the day off to go shopping in Pittsburgh.