A mother stitches a prayer into a bedcover for her son fighting in the Civil War. A formerly enslaved woman pieces together a quilt of Biblical figures and celestial events. A quilted Lady Liberty marks the resignation of Richard Nixon. These are not footnotes — they are the story.

Drawing from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this volume brings together 58 quilts and bedcovers spanning more than 400 years of American life, made by artists of European, African, Native, and Hispanic heritage. Each work carries its own narrative — of family, faith, protest, and survival — while connecting to broader histories of immigration, industry, marginalization, and cultural expansion. Artists include Faith Ringgold, Bisa Butler, Harriet Powers, Sanford Biggers, and many others whose names are only now receiving the recognition they deserve.