Figure 1: [left front side, right: back side] Thornton Dial, History Refused to Die, 2004. Okra stalks and roots, clothing, collaged drawings, tin, wire, steel, Masonite, steel chain, enamel, and spray paint, 102 x 87 x 23 inches, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image: Stephen Pitkin, Pitkin Studio, Souls Grown Deep Foundation.

Figure 2: [left to right] Lonnie Holly, Louisiana P. Bendolph, Thornton Dial, and Mary Lee Bendolph at Dial Metal Patterns, Bessemer Alabama, 2006. Image by Matt Arnett.

Figure 3: Dial’s History Refused to Die shown on the right side at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston Texas, 2005. Video snapshot from Alabama Public Television.

Figure 4: Installation view of History Refused to Die exhibition in 2018.

Figure 5: Installation view of History Refused to Die exhibition in 2018.

Figure 6: Banner for History Refused to Die exhibition outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018, New York City, New York.

Figure 7: Thornton Dial, New Generation, 2002, photo is from Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio, wood, steel, clothing, twine, tin, enamel, spray paint, and Splash Zone compound 69.5 x 60 x 17 inches. Ackland Art Museum.

Figure 8: Thornton Dial, Trip To The Mountaintop, 2004, photo is from Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio, wood, clothing, wire screen, rope, steel, wire, and plastic 132 x 86 x 51 inches. Toledo Museum of Art Museum.

Figure 9: Thornton Dial, Blood of Hard Times, 2004, 58 x 89 inches. Photographer unknown. Location unknown.

Figure 10: Thornton Dial, Heading for the Higher-Paying Jobs, photo is from Gamma One Conversions, 1992, Wood, tin, steel, wire screen, cloth, enamel, and Splash Zone compound on canvas on wood, 64.5 x 90 x 9 inches. High Museum of Art.

Figure 11: Detailed Thornton Dial, Monument to the Minds of the Little Negro Steelworkers, 2001-2003, photo is from Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio, steel, wood, wire, twine, artificial flowers, ax blade, glass bottles, animal bones, cloth, tin cans, paint can lids, and enamel, 76 x 138 x 46 inches. Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Figure 12: Pullman Standard Company Plant, 401 North Twenty-fourth Street, Bessemer, Jefferson County, Alabama. Library of Congress.

Figure 13: Zoomed in view of Dial’s, History Refused to Die, 2004. Photographer unknown. Photo from the Metropolitan Museums Met catalog, 2018.

Figure 14: Detailed view of tin bird in Dial’s History Refused to Die, 2004. Photo is from Vin de Vie Wine of Life.

Figure 15: Detailed view of Dial’s watercolor drawing in History Refused to Die, 2004. Photographer unknown. Photo is from Vin de Vie Wine of Life.

Figure 16: Detailed view of Dial’s bent steel metal in History Refused to Die, 2004. Photographer unknown. Photo is from Vin de Vie Wine of Life.

Figure 17: Thornton Dial, In Honor, 2002, photo is from Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio, clothing, bedding, carpet, plastic twine, enamel, and spray paint on canvas on wood, 73 x 108 x 3 inches. Souls Grown Deep Foundation.

Figure 18: Thornton Dial, Memory of the Ladies That Gave Us the Good Life, 2004, photo is from Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio, tin, carpet, wood, glove, washbasin, scrub brush, yard ornament, motor-oil bottle, paint brush, clothing, wire, enamel, and spray paint on wood, 98.5 x 82 x 10.5 inches. Souls Grown Deep Foundation.

Figure 19: Thornton Dial, Freedom Cloth, 2005, Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio, cloth, coat hangers, steel, wire, artificial plants and flowers, enamel, and spray paint. 86 x 68 x 57 inches. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Figure 20: Mary Lee Bendolph quilting her quilt top in her home, 2005. Photo by David Raccuglia.

Figure 21: Detail of Dial’s quilts in History Refused to Die, 2004. Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio.

Figure 22: Thornton Dial, Mrs. Bendolph, 2002, Clothing, bedding, carpet, enamel, and spray paint, on canvas on wood, 84 x 50 x 4 inches. High Museum of Art. Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio.

Figure 23: Thornton Dial standing in front of his childhood home in Emelle, Alabama. Video snapshot from Alabama Public Television.

Figure 24: Pullman Standard Company Plant. Video snapshot from Alabama Public Television.

Figure 25: Thornton Dial’s studio in Bessemer, Alabama. March, 2013. Photographer unknown.