Quilt Codes of the Underground Railroad
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ค. 2024
- Presenter Georgia Payne is a master quilter residing in Snohomish County. Since the Civil War, there have been bits and pieces of information told about secret codes, messages, and symbols that were used as part of the Underground Railroad to help slaves escape to freedom. This presentation is based on the book: “Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story Of Quilts And The Underground Railroad” By Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard, which is based on a story told by Ozella McDaniel Williams, and passed down from generation to generation in her family.
Find books and resources recommended by Georgia:
sno-isle.bibliocommons.com/li....
Recorded June 14, 2023.
Sno-Isle Libraries: www.sno-isle.org
Very nice presentation and quilt. Thank you for sharing.
I remember hearing and singing? a song about shoefly when I was little. Didn't know. Thanks for the knowledge. 😊
Your quilt is beautifully made and you explained how the quilts were used well. Please continue to pass along this piece of our history. I too quilt and am making those blocks in quilts too.
Very enlightening. Thank you for sharing.
❤This was such an informative talk about a little known side of our African American culture. Georgia, you have presented so many facts about quilting that are now brought to light! I have seen your other quilting talents and have definitely, personally experienced your sewing talent! You are so amazingly gifted and this presentation is worthy of exposure beyond Snohomish County! Thank you for doing this Georgia and thanks to the Sno-Isle Library for this production!
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Thank you! Always a great project for students! My little ones use precut paper and grids.
Thank you for this info!❤
Thank you so much for your presentation.
Unfortunately, it's a nice story, but that's all it is--a story. Absolutely NO basis in fact! The whole thing started with one woman who made up a really great tale and fed it to a gullible interviewer. Then it took on a life of its own and exploded. People get very worked up about this--people who believe it is true are fiercely partisan. Others, like me and other quilters who have delved a lot into history, are also very upset that a fairytale has been passed as true. Slaves were also quilters, but the whole idea of a "quilt code" is simplistic and naive. Please don't perpetuate this myth!
Pure fiction
I cannot tell you if all of this is true or not. I also heard people say this is too clever and complicated to be true, not because black people wouldn't have the intelligence, but because they wouldn't have the time or opportuntity to sew such complicated patterns.
I can just imagine it must have taken enormous courage (and desperation) and intelligence to run away. If they succeeded they would have outsmarted their white owners. This story might be another elaboration on that: perhaps Mme Ozella Mc Daniel Williams came up with it to outsmart white people again, not telling them how it really worked so as not to give away secrets.
But then, my theory could also be nonsense. However, wouldn't it be the ultimate triumph?
One thing about our ancestors is they knew how to make that time to be able to help each other reach freedom and that’s clever in itself. Oral tradition is and has always been vital to our history. Our ancestors and elders are enough proof of this truth.