The Ella King Torrey Collection of African American Quilts includes 13 examples by leading Southern quilt makers. The collection was formed between 1981 and 1983 while Ms. Torrey was conducting fieldwork on African American quilt-making with Maud Southwell Wahlman.

Among its highlights are an appliqued "word quilt" by the Mississippi artist Sarah Mary Taylor (born 1916) and one of her "hand" quilts, a version commissioned for the film The Color Purple. Two quilts in the collection are by Taylor's mother, Pearlie Posey (1894 – 1984), who in 1980 followed her daughter's lead and began created rainbow-hued figurative applique quilts. -- www.philamuseum.org