Date: c. 1975

Description: This is a “story cloth” quilt, made by the Hmong people of Southeast Asia. The “story,” embroidered on the quilt with colorful pictures and sections of written narrative, tells of the Hmong struggle with various Asian countries, mainly China and Japan, from World War II to the wars in Vietnam. In the 19th century the Hmong were forced out of their homeland in China to Southeast Asia, and resisted the French rule in their new land. The Hmong were on both sides in World War II, and afterwards they were involved in the Indochina War (called the Vietnam War in the United States). When their American allies were recalled in 1973, they were left to face the Communist retribution. Many Hmong refugees made their way to the United States. They were among the large groups of Latinos and Southeast Asians who came to the area in the 1970s, and many still hang on to remnants of their past culture, such as the hand-stitching techniques which created this quilt. This quilt was purchased by Eugenia Howard in memory of her husband, who was along with his wife were teachers in Vietnam during the war. The picture here is of the entire quilt, close-up pictures of certain sections can be seen in the flipbook in the Sioux City Public Museum gallery.

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Donor: Howard Family

 

Replica and snapshots of sections on display