The Moorestown Friends School Library is presenting the Presidential Quilt Project — a special exhibit of 43 historically accurate presidential quilts on display through Wednesday, Nov. 25. The exhibit is part of school festivities leading up to the 2016 Mock Primary Election on Jan. 14.
The Presidential Quilt Project was started by Sue Reich, a quilt historian based in Connecticut. She will be speaking at MFS about the collection and patriotic quilts on Monday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Dining Hall Commons. The presidential quilts will be on display that evening. The event is open to the public.
The Presidential Quilt Project is touring the nation from September 2015 to December 2017 to commemorate the 2016 United States presidential election, and MFS is the only school that will host the exhibit. Latin Teacher Linda Vizi made the arrangements for the school display, as she was a contributor to the collection. She created the quilt square to depict the 29th President of the United States, Warren G. Harding.
Quilters from around the nation had the opportunity to create a 24-inch square for one president, but some guidelines needed to be followed. The quilts had to be reflective of the time period, so constructed with fabrics and quilting patterns that were popular in that presidential era. Additionally, the quilters needed to include significant historical events of that presidency within the squares.
The Moorestown Friends School Mock Primary Election will be held on Thursday, Jan. 14. MFS has held mock campaign events every four years since 1960. Through researching candidates and issues, running campaigns and voting, students learn about the political process, see how they can get involved and come to understand the impact they can have on our nation. From 1960 to 1996 MFS held Mock Political Conventions, which typically featured the party that was out of power at the time. Since 2000, MFS has held Mock Primary Elections.
