BRATTLEBORO — Hilltop Montessori School has received funding to help bring 13 residents from Gee's Bend, Ala., to Brattleboro from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 to display their renowned quilts in downtown Brattleboro, share their stories, and perform the play Gee's Bend at Hilltop's new Arts Barn.
The grants ($5,000 from The Thompson Trust and $1,500 from Brattleboro Savings & Loan), along with donations from Hilltop supporters means the project is a go. Hilltop has collaborated with Guilford Sound, the Catherine Dianich Gallery, and the Brattleboro Literary Festival for this series of seminal events.
Hilltop Montessori's middle school has traveled to Gee's Bend and surrounding areas of Alabama every other year since 2003 as part of its civil rights curriculum. The trip is an opportunity for students to explore and gain understanding of the significance of race in American history, culture, and society.
Middle School Director Paul Dedell wanted to reciprocate the hospitality shown to students for so many years by inviting a group of quilters and Gee's Bend residents to Vermont.
In 2006, the playwright Elizabeth Gregory Wilder wrote Gee's Bend, based on the life of Mary Lee Bendolph, a matriarch of the Gee's Bend community, now a famous quilter, and a friend to Hilltop Montessori School. The Rev. Clinton Pettway and several parishioners of Ye Shall Know the Truth Baptist Church have been producing and performing Gee's Bend at their church for several years.
These are not professional actors playing roles; they are relatives, friends, and people who continue to live the struggle of poverty and isolation in this rural community. Three performances of the play will be staged at Hilltop Montessori School Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3.
Quilts will be on display in the lobby of Brattleboro Savings & Loan and at the Catherine Dianich Gallery starting in late September through October. Visitors will be able to meet the quilters at several receptions being held at the Dianich Gallery; and Wilder, along with Gee's Bend actors, will present a roundtable discussion during the Literary Festival.