FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Karen Beasley, Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association
PHONE: 256.350.3500 / 800.648.5381
EMAIL: karen@northalabama.org
American Signature Quilt Comes Home: Historic Masterpiece Returns to Harrison Brothers Hardware After 35 Years
Decatur, Ala. (September 17, 2025) – In October, Historic Huntsville Foundation’s (HHF) American Signature Quilt will make a triumphant return to Harrison Brothers Hardware, located at 124 Southside Square in downtown Huntsville. This special exhibition, to be held October 9 through October 25, 2025, marks the first time in 35 years the Quilt returns to be on display at the place that inspired its creation.
The American Signature Quilt is a priceless piece of Americana created as a fundraising project in 1989 for Harrison Brothers Hardware. Project chairs Lynn Jones and Dale Rhoades sent the most influential people of their day two fabric squares, a pen, a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a request for help. Their visionary leadership resulted in two quilts: one raffled as a fundraiser for Harrison Brothers and one displayed in the Huntsville Madison County Library as a cherished community heirloom. In 2023, the library returned the quilt to HHF. The quilt, raffled as a fundraiser, incorporates the original autographs of 165 noted Americans, including Rosa Parks, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Minnie Pearl, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Billie Jean King and Ronald Reagan into its red, white and blue Ohio Star pattern. Visit https://www.historichuntsville.org/the-american-signature-quilt/ for a complete list of quilt signers.
A Homecoming: The American Signature Quilt event launches with a Homecoming Celebration on Thursday, October 9, offering local officials, supporters and the public the first public viewing of the Quilt. The American Signature Quilt will be on display through Saturday, October 25, 2025. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. There will be extended hours on Greene Street Market Thursdays. Admission is free to the public. For more information visit, https://www.historichuntsville.org/the-american-signature-quilt/.
The Quilt's return also launches the Historic Huntsville Foundation’s Signature Quilt Investment Campaign, offering opportunities to support its ongoing preservation with donation options ranging from $100 to $2500. Visit https://www.historichuntsville.org/the-american-signature-quilt-investment-opportunities/ for investment opportunities.
Harrison Brothers Hardware, operating since 1897 and home to Huntsville’s first history museum, brings cultural heritage, craftsmanship, and local artistry together under one historic roof. For more information, visit harrisonbrothershardware.com. The Historic Huntsville Foundation aims to preserve and share stories of the region’s history, honoring both Black and white perspectives. For more information, visit https://www.historichuntsville.org/.
###
About Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association (AMLA)
AMLA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of the $4.9 billion North Alabama travel industry within the 16 northernmost counties of the state. It is supported by 500-plus members consisting of chambers of commerce, Convention & Visitors Bureaus, attractions, campgrounds, festivals, communities, golf courses, restaurants, accommodations and vendors. Counties included within the AMLA region are Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan and Winston. Additional information on North Alabama destinations, accommodations and special events is available by calling 800.648.5381, by visiting www.NorthAlabama.org and by following us on social media @VisitNorthAL.
