Shelby State Community College

Shelby State Community College

Introduction to Patchwork and Quilting

This document is from Shelby State Community College (today: Southwest Community College) to Marilyn Califf. Mrs. Califf was asked to teach an Introduction to Patchwork and Quilting in the Fall on Mondays from 7:30-9:30 p.m. She was paid $15 per teaching hour or a total of $180 for the course. Tuition for this class was $15.00. In the 70’s, it seems like $15/hr is low for teaching at a community college. The Feminist movement was beginning to take off during the 70s, but it seems that women were still highly underpaid, compared to their male counterparts.

Marilyn Califf was an avid teacher and she taught these classes to keep quilting alive and to help others appreciate quilts as much as she did. In addition to her class at Shelby State Community College, she conducted quilting workshops for the Memphis Artist-Craftsman’s Association, lectured on Art for the Memphis Jewish Welfare Fund, and was an instructor in painting for the Peabody Center for Senior Citizens. When she was not teaching, Califf volunteered much of her time at the Suicide and Crisis Center where she counseled people in crisis situations by phone.

Linda C. Brasfield

MSS 130, Box 1, Folder 10

University of Memphis Libraries

July 16, 1974

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