AUBURN - Five dollars brought Harriet Powers from obscurity to immortality.

A former slave, Powers sold her “Bible” quilt in the 1880s for $5 to a schoolteacher in Athens, Ga. The quilt, which tells a biblical story, now rests in the Smithsonian and is considered priceless.

The schoolteacher kept a diary about her meeting with Powers, who regaled her with stories about life before the Civil War.

“The fact that the schoolteacher preserved both the quilt and the story brought (Powers) to immortality,” said quilt historian Robert Shaw.

Powers' story was part of a talk by Shaw, an independent curator from Vermont, at the Willard Memorial Chapel on Sunday. In his talk, part of the citywide “Common Threads” program, Shaw discussed the history of quilts, touching on European, Japanese, Hawaiian, Amish, African American and Native American traditions.

“Quilting is not just white folks. It's not just older women,” Shaw said. “All over the United States, in every economic sphere, it's something that took place.”

Quilts were being made in Europe before coming to the United States in the 19th century, eventually falling out of favor in the mid-20th century.

“Quilts in this country had come to a low ebb in the '50s,” Shaw said. “As the Bicentennial approached, people began quilting again and really making it up as they went along.”

In the 19th century, quilts were a way for women to explore their artistic sides, Shaw said. “In 1870, there weren't that many women painters who were successful, but there were women making stunning works of art.”

Shaw worked with folk art before gravitating toward quilts.

“I'm interested because of the cultural history,” he said. “The stories of women can be told using the quilts as documents.”