Mary Jackson

South Carolina · born or raisedBorn 1945

African American artist (born 1945)

Born in Mount Pleasant
Lived in Charleston

Quotations with a citation

[T]hey kept this tradition going among family members because they wanted the future generations to have these baskets as evidence of why they came here and where they came from.

But I can say very truthfully today that you have to have a lot of patience. You have to have a lot of interest in carrying on the tradition. It requires patience and dedication in order to make these baskets because it's a slow process.

I learned all of the traditional designs from my mother and grandmother, but I wanted to introduce new forms that no one had ever thought about doing.

I knew that, like many people, if we didn't find new sources, find a way to keep the grasses available for the basketmakers, then we would lose the tradition.

I've passed it on, and I'm continuing to pass it on.