2025 Annual Meeting

“Joy Comes in the Morning: Testimonies of Slave Weavers“

Fiber Artist Mary Madison is originally from West Virginia.  As a child, she spent hours in the mountainside collecting clay and searing into her memory spectacular sunsets and cloud formations which often appear in her artwork.  She is a self-taught weaver, avid ceramicist and landscape tapestry enthusiast. She teaches fiber art classes at the Manitou Art Center in Manitou Springs, Colorado.  With any spare time, she uses quilting techniques to make contemporary quilted wall hangings.

Mary is the author the book “Plantation Slave Weavers Remember- An Oral History” and received her M.S. Degree in Organization Development from Central Washington University.

“Cotton – A Storied Crop Touching Southern Lives, Farms, Mills and Economies“

Steve M. Brown is a 1978 graduate in Agronomy & Soils from Auburn University and later earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Agronomy / Weed Science at Auburn and Texas A&M, respectively. After completing his Ph.D. in 1987, he assumed the role of Extension Weed Scientist with responsibilities in cotton and peanuts at the University of Georgia, and from 1995 to 2008, as the Extension Cotton Agronomist, serving statewide but located in Tifton. In the latter role, he led the UGA Cotton Team during those years. He retired (or semi-retired) in July 2024 and is currently serving in a teaching role at Auburn, providing instruction in Basic and Advanced Crop Science courses. His entire career has focused on cotton. He and his wife Lisa reside in Auburn. They have three grown sons and three grandchildren.

Alice Brown Memorial Scholarship Recipients

A highlight of the Annual Meeting is learning about the work of the Alice Brown Memorial Scholarship recipients via their presentations. The scholarship assists applicants ages 18-35 in attending the WARP Annual Meeting. Preference is given to students or recent graduates, but those pursuing non-traditional career paths related to WARP’s mission are also encouraged to apply. This year the scholarship includes a complimentary 2-year WARP membership, Annual Meeting registration costs, room and board, and travel expenses (up to $500 for domestic travel and up to $1000 for international travel). Click here for more information about the 2025 scholarship and to apply.

Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy Tour, $155 – Hosted by the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, guests will enjoy a tour of the Freedom Quilting Bee Museum where they will learn about the Freedom Quilting Bee’s role in the Civil Rights Movement followed by a tour of the Gee’s Bend Heritage Trail featuring framed quilts and their stories. This tour includes bus transportation to and from Gee’s Bend (approximately two hours each way), a quilting demonstration, and a box lunch. The quilts of Gee’s Bend are among the most important African-American visual and cultural contributions to the history of art within the United States. The residents of Gee’s Bend are direct descendants of the enslaved people who worked the cotton plantation established in 1816 by Joseph Gee with quilting traditions that can be dated back to the nineteenth century. Known for abstract designs never before seen expressed on quilts, the unique “my way” quilts of Gee’s Bend have gained international attention and acclaim for their artistry, with exhibitions of Gee’s Bend quilts held in museums and galleries around the world.

Historic Birmingham Tour, $50- On this tour of Birmingham cultural landmarks and institutions, guests will visit the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to learn about the city’s integral role in the Civil Rights Movement, as well as a tour of the Birmingham Museum of Art. Enjoy lunch on your own at one of the city’s vibrant eateries. This tour includes bus transportation to and from Birmingham (approximately an hour each way) as well as admission to the Civil Rights Institute and the Museum of Art. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute features exhibits and experiences depicting the events and actions of the 1963 Birmingham Civil Rights campaign, the Children’s Crusade, and other events of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. The Birmingham Museum of Art, one of the finest regional museums in the United States, houses a diverse collection of more than 29,000 paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, and decorative arts dating from ancient to modern times. The collection presents a rich panorama of cultures, featuring the Museum’s extensive holdings of Asian, European, American, African, Pre-Columbian, and Native American art.

Hands-On Weaving Workshop, $25- Weaving is not the only textile medium within the WARP orbit, but it is at the core. If you are a WARP member with little to no experience of weaving or simply want to have a maker day in a casual setting, this experience is for you. Decompress at the loom and get a taste of the artistry built into the organization’s name. Hosted by WARP grant recipient and Alabama-based weaver and dyer Lynn Battle, WARP board member Liz Gipson, and local artist and weaver Miriam Omura. They will offer a 5 hour long round robin style weaver-tunity. Round robins are a popular format in weaving circles. There are multiple loom setups available for participants to rotate among, allowing them to weave small pieces of woven cloth they can take with them. These small bits of cloth can be transformed into needle cases, pin cushions, coasters, and felted cut shapes to take with you as a token of your experience.  A box lunch is included. This activity is offered at very low cost thanks to the sponsorship of WARP members Tim & Cynthia Hale.

After our day of activities, we will come back together on campus for dinner and a complimentary screening of the film Interlacements – Threads and Lives created by WARP members Marilyn and Rainer Romatka. There will be a Zoom introduction by the Romatkas before the film, and a Q&A with them after the film.

Hand-crafted cloth facilitates a relationship – between the weaver and the end-user of the cloth. Interlacements – Threads and Lives is a collection of personal stories about hand-made cloth and the people whose lives it touches. We want to express that hand-woven textiles are more than just unique, that they can remind the user of the person who wove it – a special connection between weaver and recipient – every time the cloth is used. The stories we tell in this documentary celebrate and showcase these moments. This film is offered to WARP members for free thanks to the generosity of the Romatkas. 

“How Weaving as a Chore Impacted my Immigration Journey“

Zellipah Githui is the founder of Gitzell FairTrade, a social impact brand whose mission is to improve the livelihood of families in Africa.  Growing up in Kenya in a large family with few resources, Zellipah knows firsthand what poverty is.  She learned the art of weaving from her mother and now partners with women weavers from several African countries to create fair trade home decor and accessories. Her specialization lies in facilitating grassroots activities that uplift the livelihoods of families in Africa, particularly at the intersection of fair trade and smallholder farming. Driven by her passion to make a meaningful impact, Zellipah is deeply committed to enhancing local and global communities. She believes in the power of storytelling to shed light on important issues such as immigrants’ experiences, justice, diversity, equity and inclusion. 

“Through Hope and Tradition we created a Legacy – The Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy”

Louise Witherspoon Williams was born and raised in Alberta, Alabama and graduated from 20th Century Business College in 1979. Her mother, Estelle Witherspoon, was the voice and heartbeat of the Freedom Quilting Bee, which she co-founded in 1966. Louise learned the value of family and community from her parents (Estelle and Eugene), grandmother, aunts, uncles, and elder cousins at an early age. Louise has traveled domestically and internationally with her husband of 43 years, Eugene, who is a U.S. Veteran and her twin daughters, Tamika and Jamika, but she will always call Alberta home. Louise serves as President of the newly formed Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, where she follows in her mother’s footsteps to continue to enrich the lives of the people in Alberta and surrounding communities and to share the wonderful gifts the people of these communities bring to the world.

Gloria Davis Memorial Assistantship Recipients

The Gloria Davis Memorial Assistantship Fund began in 2018 thanks to WARP member Susan Davis’s donation of the Gloria Davis Textile Collection. Susan’s friend Gloria Davis was an anthropologist who collected Indonesian textiles over her lifetime of doing field work. Proceeds from the sale of these textiles established the Assistantship fund, which is now sustained by donations. Assistants have the opportunity to give a 15-minute presentation about themselves and their work, and to have a sales table the afternoon following their presentations. To learn more about the Gloria Davis Memorial Assistantship and to apply, click here.