Bertha Meckstroth

Bertha Amelia Meckstroth was born around 1872 in Minnesota. At age 27, she entered Radcliffe College to study nursing. Having met sculptor Bessie Potter a few years earlier, she was inspired to take sculpting classes at Radcliffe. Having contracted polio as a child, she was not able to physically handle the heavy materials and sculpting tools. She began quilts, referring to them at sculpture in cloth. She made about 160 quilts over her lifetime and considered herself a quilt artist. Her older sister, Anna, married Richard Sears, founder of Sears, Roebuck and Co. She lived with them in Glencoe, Illinois in a Spanish-style house named Casa Tranquilla, and they encouraged her quiltmaking. In 1933, Meckstroth's quilts were exhibited in the Illinois Host House at the Century of Progress Exposition in a show titled "Sculpture and Painting in Cotton, Linen,and Silk." Her original designs incorporated fanciful and relgious themes. She often used script verses and phrases rendered in reverse applique. After designing and constructing the tops, she sent her these to be quilted by women in Kentucky and Tennessee. After she died, her quilts were divided between Barrett College of the Sacred Hear in Lake Forest, Illinois and Radcliffe College. In 1970, Barrett College had Christie's auction the quilts in their colelction. Radcliffe College gave their quilts to the Radcliffe Club of Boston, and they were auctioned to benefit the club's scholarship fund.