MARBLEHEAD-Inquisitive fourth-graders’ eyes were lit with excitement Wednesday morning as they gazed upon historical quilts on display at the Tower School in Marblehead.Sixty students from Harrington Elementary School in Lynn joined the school’s student body for a special learning session on the art, history and culture of the Gee’s Bend Quilt Collective, a group of mainly middle-aged women who have been making handmade quilts for most of the past decade. This was a continuation of the cooperative reading program that the two schools are currently sharing.The renowned works of art arrived in Marblehead last week. Maryann Pettway, head of the Gee’s Bend Quilting Collective, brought several quilts and her own stories to give students a unique history lesson after being contacted by Linda Downes, director of community development for the Tower School.Quilt making has been a regular duty for members of the collective for most of the 21st century. With many beginning at a young age, they made quilts throughout their lives, producing 10 to 12 quilts on average. At present, the practice has been passed down through six generations.But while the quilts were once common household necessities, they now serve as a snapshot in time of a culture just after the Civil War.In 1850, a man named Joseph Gee bought a bend of land by the Alabama River. Shortly after, the Civil War ran its course and the freed slaves of Gees Bend became tenant farmers of the land they had worked in times of slavery. They finally gained ownership of the land during the Great Depression when the government bought it and left them as the sole proprietors.While the social situation changed often during these times, the quilt making process remained unaltered.The tops, or upper sections of the quilts, are made by individuals so that they retain a singular vision. Then the rest of the quilt is assembled in a community setting, often by all able-bodied women in a family.The quilts themselves are often brightly or boldly colored like traditional American and African American quilts. There is also a simple and modern appearance to the quilts that often make use of imperfectly arranged geometric shapes.While talking about the quilts, Downes told students about the geometry and unique qualities they have. “Normally when people quilt, everything is symmetrical, but the quilters were different because they wanted to keep their individuality intact. That was a way for them to talk about who they were. This is their whole identity, their whole history.”In recent years, the quilts have been publicly celebrated for their historical and artistic significance. In 2003, more than 50 of the remaining community artists came together to form the Gees Bend Quilt Collective. After being documented in two books and a CD of traditional and gospel music, the members of the collective went on a 12-city exhibition tour to places like the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.It was during this tour that Downes discovered the quilts. “I had seen them at the Whitney, so I started making calls. After five months, I knew by October that our school could look forward to working with the quilt collective.”While the display is currently part of the school’s curriculum, it will be made available to the public next Tuesday during an open house from 5n7 p.m.”Part of the whole exhibit, besides displaying such beautiful quilts, is that it tells why the entire collective shares the last name Pettway. It’s not because they are family, it is because of the history behind the collective,” said Downes.During two 20-minute sessions of singing traditional Gee’s Bend songs and viewing the quilts, students learned about the story behind them and the link they have to slavery.While many students gravitated towards the more colorful or intricately patterned quilts, Kenny Pierre, a fourth grade Tower School student, favored a bland navy blue and cream colored quilt for a more practical reason.”I like it because i