In Memoriam - Cuesta Benberry, Quilt Historian and Scholar

I am very saddened to report that one of the most distinguished quilt historians died yesterday. Her impeccable scholarship, her challenge to the stereotyping of quilts made by African-Americans, and her determination to blast through the indifference and apathy of the overall quilt world as it related to quilting in the African-American community are legendary.
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Following is a little information about her work:
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In 2004, the Distinguished Scholar/Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed upon Cuesta Benberry by Faith Ringgold’s Anyone Can Fly Foundation. It was awarded “…for her groundbreaking research on the history of African-American quilt making…which uncovered the centuries long and richly diverse history of African-American quilt making in American Art..”
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In conjunction with the award, a 4-part interview of Cuesta Benberry by Faith Ringgold was video-recorded at Cuesta’s home in St. Louis, Missouri on August 18, 2004:
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Part 1 – Cuesta Benberry’s Beginnings – 35-minute vidcast
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/award/cuesta_benberry/Cuesta_Benberry_1.htm
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Part 2 – African-American Quilts – 26-minute vidcast
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/award/cuesta_benberry/Cuesta_Benberry_2.htm
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Part 3 – Exhibition Quilts – 20-minute vidcast
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/award/cuesta_benberry/Cuesta_Benberry_3.htm
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Part 4 – Contemporary Quilts – 22-minute vidcast
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/award/cuesta_benberry/Cuesta_Benberry_4.htm
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Full transcript of the interview in HTML format, with bibliography and photos:
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/award/cuesta_benberry/Cuesta_Benberry_Interview_Transcript.html

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Full transcript of the interview in PDF format; with bibliography (without photos):
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/pdf/Cuesta_Benberry_Interview_Transcript.pdf
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Additional Information:
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A prolific writer and published author, a full listing of Custa Benberry's work can be found in Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook by Kyra Hicks.
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2004 – Honored by the American Folk Art Museum with a Cuesta Benberry Day
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2004 – Donated to the American Folk Art Museum her extensive library and archival collection of rare: books, exhibition and pattern catalogs, periodicals, patterns, and periodicals; among others.
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2002 – Interviewed as a “Quilt Treasure” by the Center for the Quilt – On the website, you can “Read about Cuesta's work, view images from her books, and hear her discuss her research and insights in this Quilt Treasures web portrait.”
http://www.centerforthequilt.org/treasures/cb/index.php
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2000 – A Piece of My Soul: Quilts by Black Arkansans was published
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1992 – Always There: The African-American Presence in American Quilts was published

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1983 - Inducted into the Quilter’s Hall of Fame
http://www.quiltershalloffame.net/honorees.html

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Cuesta, we loved you – we will miss you