Ora Kirkland was born in Orlando, Florida, in 1918. Her mother worked as a domestic, and her father had a fish market where he also sold vegetables, candy, and cake to neighbors in his integrated community. The fish market was in the backyard of their modest bungalow. In earlier years, her dad stoked the furnace in a nearby lumberyard.

Ora learned to quilt from her mother Julia and her grandmother Harriett, who lived in North and South Carolina. Ora remembers that she was always quilting, even when she and her mom lived in Florida. Her grandmother took big rectangles or even irregular pieces like men’s pants or fabric samples, whatever was available. Door-to-door clothing salesmen would leave out-of-style fabrics with them when a color or pattern was discontinued. Her grandmother’s quilts seldom had much color. Ora and her mother also got fabric from stores and flea markets and would mix it with scraps of clothes she was making.

Ora attended college and received her bachelor’s degree in social work. She moved to New York where she worked until her retirement in 1981. She moved to Hempstead in 1976. During her adult years she did not quilt, due to workplace demands and in order to devote time to raising her family. After she retired Ora took up quilting again. However she broke with tradition and created several modern style quilts. For instance, "The MusAfrica Quilt" profiles several African American musicians that Ora researched. The "Impeachment" quilt is based on her high regard for President Clinton and her anger at the 1999 impeachment proceedings against Clinton. At the same time Ora also used various traditional patterns as seen in the "Impeachment" and "Akilah’s Quilt", assisted by such conveniences as a sewing machine.

Ora’s quilts have been exhibited at various Long Island museums, libraries, churches, and quilt competitions. She was active in the Long Island Quilters Society and the Long Island Embroiderers Guild of America. She was also an advisor to the Long Island Black Crafters Guild. Ora passed away on March 24, 2003.