Fields-Blair family papers, 1920s-2005
Creator: Fields-Blair family
Title: Papers, 1920s-2005
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for this collection, contact the Collections Department at gro.l1777440534aciro1777440534tsihn1777440534oslif1777440534@hcra1777440534eser1777440534.
Size of Collection: 1.79 cu. ft. (in 1 legal box and 1 oversized box)
Location Number: Mss. A F461
Finding aid created by: Hannah O’Daniel McCallon
Date finding aid created: 11 March 2026
Date finding aid created: 11 March 2026
Scope and Content Note
The collection documents the genealogy and quilting interests of a multi-generational family in Letcher County, Kentucky, through materials owned by tailor Nora Fields Blair (1901-1995). Genealogy materials document the lineage and life events of the Fields and Blair families in eastern Kentucky. The quilting materials are useful for research into the use, sharing, and commercial distribution of quilt patterns in Appalachia, and the broader material culture of quilting.
The family materials consist of Fields and Blair genealogy notes, typed family histories, funeral programs and obituaries, poetry and song lyrics, a 1982 letter to Nora Blair from Alta Blair (1899-1986) about the death of Alta’s husband Charles Lee Blair (1894-1982), a 1928 property map for the town of Whitesburg, Kentucky, with Blair plots identified, and a circa 1906 panoramic group photo of identified Letcher County teachers printed in the local newspaper in 1971. The genealogy materials, funeral programs, and obituaries also document family connections to the Williams, Beng, and Lewis families.
The second half of the collection represents the importance of quilting and other textile crafts to Nora Blair and her daughter Dorothy “Inez” Blair Williams (1923-2020). Materials include advertisements for mail-order quilt patterns, books, and tools published in Kentucky newspapers. The collection also includes mailings for the Mountain Mist brand of batting and quilt patterns, as produced by Stearns and Foster Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. An undated newspaper clipping advertises quilts for sale made by Inez Blair and others at The Cozy Corner in Whitesburg.
The bulk of the quilting themed items are appliqué and quilting stitch templates traced on and cut from a variety of recycled materials: 1930s and later newspapers and magazines, cardboard boxes, thin plastic packaging, tracing paper, a wallpaper sample, and wax paper.
The traced, templated, and commercially printed patterns represented include the Bow Tie, Colonial Rose, Conventional Scroll, Dahlia, Democratic Rose, Dutch Boy, Dutch Girl, Friendship Chain, Iris, North Carolina Rose, Oak Tree, Ohio Rose, Parasol Lady, Scottie Dog, Sunburst, Texas Star, and Tulip in Vase. Templates that correspond to an identified pattern are grouped in the folders. The Dutch Boy block templates and traced pattern are also accompanied by fabric cut and basted into the appliqué shapes. Commercial pattern companies represented include Princess Fashions and the Mountain Mist line of Stearns and Foster Company.
Patterns and templates for quilting stitches include feather wreath quilting, grid diamond, fan, circle, and diagonal. Some of the quilting stitch designs are drawn on transparent, thin plastic film—likely reused from packaging—with dressmaker pins still attached.
Related collections:
Fields-Williams-Blair photograph collections [023PC36, 024PC19, 024PC30]
Textiles by Dona Fields and Nora Blair:
Quilts [2023.35.1-.3]
Quilt blocks [2024.18.3A-J]
Patchwork aprons [2023.35.4-.5]
Dress [2024.18.2]
Textile tools owned by Nora Blair:
Dressmaker’s shears [2024.18.4]
Rug shuttle needles [2024.18.5-.6]
Wooden clip [2024.18.7]
Accessories and beauty items owned by Nora Blair:
Beaded purse [2024.18.8]
Collars [2024.18.9-.10]
Sets of ornamental combs [2024.18.11a-e]
Pocket hand warmer [2024.18.12]
Makeup compacts [2024.18.13, .16, .20-.22]
Compact razor with razor blades [2024.18.14]
Perfume atomizer [2024.18.15]
Lipstick lighter [2024.18.19]
Daughters of America membership items owned by Nora Blair [2024.18.23-.26]
Other museum artifacts owned by Nora Blair:
Appalachian dulcimer [2023.35.6]
Butter churn [2023.35.12A-C]
Riding saddle [2024.18.1]
Mining and oil items owned by Robert Leverne Williams (1919-2009):
Miner’s helmet [2023.35.7]
Chevron patch [2023.35.8]
Hydrometer [2023.35.9a-b]
Biographical/Historical Note
The collection descended through a grandchild of Nora Fields Blair (1901-1995).
Nora Fields Blair was the daughter of Kelley Fields (1880-1956) and Caledonia “Dona” Fields (1881-1927) of Whitesburg, Kentucky. Kelley worked as a merchant in Whitesburg and served as police judge. Dona was a skilled seamstress and quilter who taught her daughters how to sew and quilt. The family was religious and attended the First Baptist Church of Whitesburg. Nora was the oldest of seven children; her siblings were named Willie (1903-1986), Oma (d. 1975), Paschal (1909-2002), Teddy (1912-1999), Lelia (1915-1989), Juanita (1917-1989), and John Ralph (1922-1993).
Nora Fields married Charles V. Blair (1897-1983) on June 5, 1918. After Nora’s mother Donia died in 1927, Nora and Charles moved their young family in with Kelley Fields to help raise Nora’s siblings. Nora worked as a tailor for Whitesburg’s Dawahare Clothing Store and made quilts. Nora and Charles had three children: Irene, Dorothy “Inez,” and Maurice. During his lifetime, Charles worked in a variety of fields—mining, carpentry, teaching, painting, and wallpaper hanging—and served as the Whitesburg city judge. Nora’s siblings Oma and Paschal never married; they lived with the couple into adulthood. Oma was a teacher at Whitesburg Grade School and Paschal operated the Fields Service Station.
Folder List
Box 1
Folder 1: Blair genealogy, 1962, undated
Folder 2: Fields-Blair genealogy, 1950-2005
Folder 3: Obituaries and funeral programs, 1927-1995
Folder 4: Poetry about Oma Fields and Christian songs by Kelley Fields, circa 1920-1950s
Folder 5: Letter to Nora and Charles Blair from Alta Blair, 20 December 1982
Folder 6: Quilting advertisements, fabric shopping list, and Peter Pan brand fabric sample, ca. 1940s-1970s
Folder 7: Quilting clippings, 1931-ca. 1980s
Folder 8: Quilt templates, sketches, and patterns, ca. 1930s-1980s
Folder 9: Dutch Boy block templates and fabric pieces, ca. 1930s-1980s
Folder 10: Advertisements and patterns for other needlework crafts, 1930-1976
Oversized Box 2
Folder 11: Commercial quilt patterns, 1930s-1950s
Folder 12: Templates for appliques and piecing, 1930s-1980s
Folder 13: Quilting stitch templates, 1930s-1980s [caution—includes dressmaker pins]
Folder 14: Map and newspaper, 1928, 1971
Subject Headings
For more details on how the below subjects appear in this collection, search the subject in the manuscript database at https://filsonhistorical.org/collections/manuscript-database/.
Death.
Kentucky – Letcher County.
Needlework – Kentucky.
Stearns & Foster Company.
Quilting – Kentucky.