She Was The Thread - Clara Mae Luper

Oklahoma Backroads Quilt from Quiltville

Oklahoma to me is like a beautiful handmade quilt.  The quilt top is Oklahoma's people.  A vast collection of fabric.  Some cut from a pattern to make the blocks.  Some are remnants saved over time carefully sewn together.  Others are appliqued-shapes placed perfectly on the quilt top to bring out its beauty. 

  The backing of the quilt is our many different cultures brought together to make the largest part of the quilt.

The quilt borders are our beautiful land, mountains and lakes all around us so that we may enjoy living each day with friends and family.

And the batting, oh the batting is the most important.  It is our history, our present and our future.  It is the events of Oklahoma, whether triumphs or tragedies, that bind us together.  From before statehood until now and in the future the batting binds the sections of the quilt together to keep us warm and to cover us in times of difficulty.

If Oklahoma is a quilt then Clara Mae Luper was the thread.  With the hand of God holding the needle Clara painstakingly sewed us together.  If a seam came undone with the batting showing she carefully sewed the fabric making us beautiful again.

Clara Mae Luper or Mother Luper was born and raised in Okfuskee County, OK, the same county I live in.  She humbled herself before God and she was able to move mountains.  She touched so many lives.  A pioneer in the Civil Rights movement, a daughter, a mother, a grandmother, and aunt.  She was also a teacher and her students loved her.  You did not have to "know" to know her.  She inspired us to move mountains.  We now know that we can do it.  We can overcome diversity, tragedy or injustice.  Every time I heard her voice I was inspired to move the mountain that was before me.

Thank you Mother Luper for sewing us together.

Love,

Territory Mom

For some very beautiful and poignant photos go to Alternative Crop-newsok.com a blog by Nate Billings of The Oklahoman