Oral 19th-century slave narratives and testimonies of former slaves in the 1930s didn't contain any references to the quilt-code. "Who is going to write down what they did and what it meant … [if] it might fall into the wrong hands?" The history of quilting goes as far back as 3400 BCE. The historians believe the first quilt the seamstress would display had a wrench pattern. Quilts allow Tindall to sustain a conversation about these men and women who were valiant, who fought slavery by taking the ultimate chance—running, and maybe even trusting the message on a blanket when everything was at stake—and encouraging others to do the same. Their patterns and blocks were a code, providing direction, signifying safety, and issuing warnings (according to some historians). The slaves did the household cores and the owners of the house would pay no attention to a quilt on display. Not dates, examples, nor firsthand accounts. Giles R. Wright, a New Jersey-based historian, points to a lack of corroborating evidence. “Flying geese are blue; the sky is blue, red and black,” she responded. Centered on an empowering account of enslaved African Americans who ingeniously stitched codes into quilts to signal those seeking freedom in the North toward safe haven, this gratifying story has stirred controversy within the world of quilt scholarship. Soon the story has lifeblood independent of its origins, and there’s no stopping it. The next great whiskey trail is not where you think it is, Parisians want to recover a legendary river now buried under concrete, Singapore’s iconic, but endangered, street food now has UNESCO status. In every culture, there are beliefs, myths, urban legends, rumors, even conspiracy theories that rise to the status of sacred narrative whether or not they are “true.” In many cases of folklore, hard facts may not influence a belief. Based on surveys of quilts made during these years, the evidence for some of these patterns just isn’t there, breaking the spell of this captivating story. Raymond Dobard, Ph.D., is an art history professor at Howard Univers This single number could reshape our climate future. Prior to 1999, the codes were unheard of even to the African American quilting community. For something to qualify as a fact, it needs evidence. "They offer no evidence, no documentation, in support of that argument.". The code "was a way to say something to a person in the presence of many others without the others knowing," said Dobard, a history professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C. "It was a way of giving direction without saying, 'Go northwest.'". These quilts were said to impart important instructions and warnings to people traveling the Underground Railway. Stories, recipes, personal experiences, and all the things that were whispered to us when we were young often outweigh scientific fact. The seamstress would then hang a quilt with a wagon wheel pattern. MacDowell has done the research. 2. Perhaps the code, true or not, is a vehicle for African Americans to explore the trauma they inherited—and the hope. Trouble lurks for Afghanistan’s beloved ‘goat grabbing’ national sport, The origins of the filibuster—and how it came to exasperate the U.S. Senate, The eccentric scientist behind the ‘gold standard’ COVID-19 test, Why kids need their own COVID-19 vaccine trials, WHO approves AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine for emergency use globally, Success! I was disappointed by her answer because I didn’t understand. The second block is the Flying Geese block. How ancient astronomy mixed science with mythology, Video Story, Why mapping Mars completely changed how we see it, Video Story, How these feuding map-makers shaped our fascination with Mars, Video Story, Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright © 2015-2021 National Geographic Partners, LLC. The folklore of certain quilts being used as symbols has been presumed true by many, with books Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad in 2000 from authors Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard. This does not make its historical significance any less. "What I think they've done is they've taken a folklore and said it's historical fact," Wright said. “We had a whole battery of people who were doing those interviews in Michigan, both black and white, and no one heard that story.”. She recently gave a lecture about them to a full room in Johnson House. Addressing the lack of concrete evidence, Dobard emphasized the fragility of quilts. This week in Quilts on the Underground Railroad, we are covering the North Star block. “If people’s lives are at stake, then it stands to reason that there would be no trace of the quilts,” Atlanta-based quilt scholar Mary Twining-Baird argues. The quilts were hung outside of homes along the Underground Railroad to let … Historic Camden County. We tell unforgettable stories about people, ideas, and a wide array of arts and traditions that help us explore where we have come from and where we are going. ISBN 978-0938990055. I want to convey a message of hope, freedom, love for the slaves.”. Between 1910 and 1920, the African American population of Detroit, Michigan, increased by more than 600 percent. All rights reserved, Nearly 5,000 sea turtles rescued from freezing waters on Texas island, Selfie-taking tourists risk giving wild gorillas COVID-19, other diseases, Monkeys still forced to pick coconuts in Thailand despite controversy, A black-footed ferret has been cloned, a first for a U.S. endangered species. "This quilt was only displayed when certain conditions were right. Support the Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, sustainability projects, educational outreach, and more. “If you’re wondering about our irritation, I think it’s more frustrating that the codes keep getting presented as fact.”. Dobard refutes the claims that his book lacks evidence, noting that he uses oral history and thus lacks written records. Quilts were often made to commemorate important family events such as marriage, a birth, or moving to a new place. If the sky wasn’t clear, look for or listen to the geese flying north in the spring.”. to segregation laws and seeking industry jobs during what is known as the Great Northern Migration, or the Black Migration. If a quilt with this pattern was hung out on a porch, it meant that it was time … Often made from scraps of old dresses, burlap sacks, and dish cloths, it gives physical, even functional, form to a family or individual’s past and present. “The danger is that you start questioning people’s belief systems and how they get their information.”, “I’ve found some people have a hard time thinking or believing anything they cannot see or touch,” Tindall says. This pattern told slaves to pack their belongings because they were about to go on a long journey. She felt a kind of kinship. "New Jersey's Underground Railroad Myth-Buster: Giles Wright is on a Mission to Fine Tune Black History". This idea has been stuck in my head for awhile, ever since I heard about how quilts were used to communicate to runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. ", Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright © 2015-2021 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Slaves would use the sampler to memorize the code. These quilts were embedded with a kind of code, so that by reading the shapes and motifs sewn into the design, an enslaved person on the run could know the … In 1993, historian Jacqueline Tobin met African American quilter Ozella Williams amid piles of beautiful handmade quilts in the Old Market Building of … The Tumbling Blocks. Quilt codes are not mentioned in the 19th century slave narratives or 1930s oral testimonies of former slaves. This week we are looking at the Monkey Wrench Quilt and the Wagon Wheel Quilt. The seamstress then sewed ten quilts, each composed of one of the code's patterns. No one said anything about a code. Who has not heard of the Underground Railroad?Well if not, a brief history is that it was not a train at all, but a secret network of people who assisted slaves during the 19th century to escape from the southern states, staying in secret and hidden "safe houses" on the way. Take to the air with a drone, These World’s Fair sites reveal a history of segregation. At its center, a quilt is an assemblage of historical and creative cues in the form of fabrics, shapes, symbols, textures and colors. Jacqueline Tobin is the author of From Midnight to Dawn: The Last Tracks of the Underground Railroad, Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad and The Tao of Women.She is also a teacher, collector, and writer of women's stories. These 6 numbers define the climate challenge in a changing U.S. Sacred Native American land to be traded to a foreign mining giant, Biden expected to reverse Trump’s order to shrink Utah national monuments, How do we know what ancient Greek warriors wore for battle? Jacqueline Tobin is the author of From Midnight to Dawn: The Last Tracks of the Underground Railroad, Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad and The Tao of Women.She is also a teacher, collector, and writer of women's stories. Now the lineage of artisans using quilt codes is robust. As more people are fully vaccinated, certain activities will become less risky, but experts still recommend holding on to precautions for the near future. She lives in Denver, Colorado. Quilts were often hung over fence rails and porches to air out. She lives in Denver, Colorado. Echolocation is nature’s built-in sonar. Are these quilts harming anyone? For this very reason, symbols were developed along the route of the underground railroad. "To expect a quilt that remained within the slave community to survive more than one hundred years is asking a lot. The quilt-code theory has met with controversy since its publication. These quilts were embedded with a kind of code, so that by reading the shapes and motifs sewn into the design, an enslaved person on the run could know the area’s immediate dangers or even where to head next. Was her whiteness a factor in not hearing that story? Mount Everest is more than two feet taller, China and Nepal announce, The legendary community that fought for its freedom in Jamaica, Why this salty Massachusetts coastal town hooks artists, Families are leading a new wave for Black travelers, Winter is prime time for watching bald eagles—here’s how, As Lunar New Year approaches, many Asians worry about future journeys, Want dreamy winter photos? When quiltmaker Ozella McDaniels told Jacqueline Tobin of the Underground Railroad Quilt Code, it sparked Tobin to place the tale within the history of the Underground Railroad. Raymond Dobard, Ph.D., is an art history professor at Howard University and a nat the underground railroad quilts squares where made with codes to help the slaves to freedom Safe houses, hopefully no farther than 10-11 miles apart, were called She encountered an old quilt that “was stitched like it had been sewn with a crowbar.”, “It was a map, of course! This in-demand plant is evolving to hide from its predator—humans, These widely used insecticides may be a threat to mammals too, Oil drilling on sensitive New Mexico public lands puts drinking water, rare caves at risk. After all this time, they have been lost or have fallen to pieces. I want to believe it happened. “I simply ask them, ‘Do you think it’s possible?’ Nonverbal communication, symbols, and secrets are all forms of communication.”. Two historians say African American slaves may have used a quilt code to navigate the Underground Railroad. Dobard said his favorite pattern was the bear's paw, a quilt he believes directed slaves to head north over the Appalachian Mountains. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy, Terms of Use), Sharon Tindall, “The Johnson House,” 2019, cotton batik, Dupioni silk, tulle netting, Swarovski crystals, 40 x 28”, Sharon Tindall’s interpretation of the Flying Geese quilt pattern, 2019, Dupioni silk, cotton, 19 x 19”, In this quilt, Sharon Tindall combines two traditional block patterns: The North Star and Jacob’s Ladder. After you get a COVID-19 vaccine, what can you do safely? #underground railroad #undergroundrailroadquilts While researching quilts in South Africa, she made the acquaintance of contemporary quilters who have—“lo and behold!”—caught wind of the book and started coding quilts of their own. In the end we must see the name Underground Railroad for this quilt block as one that remembers and honors the brave people who escaped slavery by traveling north and those who helped them. 4. “One woman who was originally from South Carolina but lived in Detroit said she learned quilting as a child in South Carolina. Literally, if anyone found out they could lose their lives.”. Marie Claire Bryant is a poet, storyteller, and archivist interning at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Though not all of her quilts are coded, Tindall is a believer and defender of the codes. Here’s how it could be done. 3. ", The last quilt had a tumbling blocks pattern, which Dobard described as looking like a collection of boxes. We delve into the complex lives of individuals and communities to find what inspires and motivates people as they respond to animating questions at the center of contemporary life. They jumped to conclusions without documentation.”. Stereotypes have fueled a tourism boom in Europe’s icy North. The seamstress would hang the quilts in full view one at a time, allowing the slaves to reinforce their memory of the pattern and its associated meaning. He also said that there are no memoirs, diaries, or Works Progress Administration interviews conducted in the 1930s of ex-slaves that mention quilting codes. “The orange is life, or light,” she explains, pointing at the glowing horizon line on her quilt, The Johnson House. I can see the promise of such a system. She especially knows that it’s out of her hands. The Log Cabin may have become popular after the death of … NASA’s Perseverance rover has just landed on Mars, Watch as NASA attempts a daring Mars rover landing, Million-year-old mammoth teeth yield world's oldest DNA, Why mapping Mars completely changed how we see it, How these feuding map-makers shaped our fascination with Mars, Earth’s mountains may have mysteriously stopped growing for a billion years. We thank you for your support! Giles Wright, an Underground Railroad expert, asserts that the book is based upon folklore that is unsubstantiated by other sources. 4 Perhaps the Underground Railroad pattern evolved from this earlier pattern. Sign up for more inspiring photos, stories, and special offers from National Geographic. They matter because we believe them, so, naturally, and sometimes quickly, they become some of the disparate pieces of the systems that define us. Well-intentioned white abolitionists, many of whom were Quakers, ran it. Now what? The world’s wetlands are slipping away. Built in 1768 in the heart of Germantown, Johnson House’s woodwork, flooring, and glass are all original to the house. They engage in heated debates on Underground Railroad and quilt studies e-mail lists. “There will always be people who believe,” she concedes. When slaves made their escape, they used their memory of the quilts as a mnemonic device to guide them safely along their journey, according to McDaniel. Here’s how it works. Slated to land on Mars this month, the Perseverance rover will search for signs of past life and test new technologies for supporting future human missions. “The risk is that it is not a true story,” MacDowell says. Nimble fingers working in secret, armed with needle and thread, engaging with a visual language, doing their part for freedom. She knows how rampant the story of quilt codes has become. The Underground Railroad in Illinois. This vibrant sanctuary underscores the stakes. One of the symbols was the use of quilts. Quilt historians and Underground Railroad experts are not all in agreement with the quilt-code theory. Bow Tie = Dress in disguise to appear of a higher status, Bear Paw = Follow an animal trail through the mountains to find water and food, Log Cabin = Seek shelter now, the people here are safe to speak with. If, for example, there was an Underground Railroad agent in the area," Dobard said. It could also mean that there were compartments built into the wagon to hide slaves. There is a carved ivory figure in the British Museum of an Egyptian pharaoh who appears to be wearing a “quilted mantle.” Sentenced to death, but innocent: These are stories of justice gone wrong. For Tindall, a quilt can be like a prayer. Unfortunately, the quilt was lost in a flood and there are no pictures, which serves as logic for the general dearth of material evidence of quilts codes today. In the book, the authors chronicled the oral testimony of Ozella McDaniel, a descendant of slaves. Were they literally supposed to follow the geese? 3-ton parts of Stonehenge may have been carried from earlier monuments, How ancient astronomy mixed science with mythology, This ivory relic reveals the colonial power dynamic between Benin and Portugal. ", Fact or myth, people agree that the idea of a quilt code is compelling. Someone else we recorded said that her family hid important papers in the binding of the quilt. This was network of abolitionists who helped slaves escape to Ohio and Canada. “I consider myself a Believer in Jesus Christ, woman of Faith, storyteller and a creator of quilts,” she wrote to me. Tindall uses combinations of cottons, raw Dupioni silks, Swarovski crystals, natural fibers, Malian mud cloth, and even glitter to convey the spiritual, intangible components of her narrative compositions. I asked Tindall what the Flying Geese quilt pattern meant and how it assisted runaways on the Underground Railroad. According to legend, a safe house along the Underground Railroad was often indicated by a quilt hanging from a clothesline or windowsill. Underground Railroad quilts tell a unique story of how the African Slave used the codes hidden in quilts. Why did it fail? Twining-Baird specializes in kente cloth quilts made on the Sea Island chain off the coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, but she maintains a firm stance on quilt codes. That’s according to Marsha MacDowell, a quilt scholar and director of the Quilt Index, a massive online catalog of more than 90,000 quilts. For them, the codes are poetry, healing, and, especially, a means of expressing history. Giles R. Wright, a New Jersey-based historian, points to … For many parents, showing their kids the world is about both the past and the future. Underground Railroad Quilt Codes: What We Know, What We Believe, and What Inspires Us. None of these institutions questioned the veracity of Tobin and Dobard’s story; instead, they published book reviews as human-interest pieces, calling it “captivating” and “fascinating,” and the public lapped it up like hard fact. “They could feel or sense light through their struggle of trying to get to freedom.”. It came off like verse, or a nursery rhyme. Regardless of the disputed history, it has been twenty years now that Tindall and other quilters have been making coded quilts: glimmering, spiritually charged, stop-you-in-your-tracks, hanging textiles based in deeply believed and debated historical events. More than 130 years after its discovery, this moth was finally photographed alive, The world’s biggest owl is endangered—but it’s not too late to save it, Lasers, cannons, effigies: The surprising science of shooing vultures away. It is one of the first star blocks I learned...under a different name. Whole cloth quilts, broderie perse and medallion quilts were popular styles of quilts made during the early 1800s. When a person believes something, they have no need of proof. To many of us, the use of quilts as messengers on the Underground Railroad (UGRR) is a myth. That is to say, the authenticity of quilt codes is, among other things, a matter of emphasis. More Buying Choices $1.35 (155 … There is a carved ivory figure in the British Museum of an Egyptian pharaoh who appears to be … Some historians believe that safe houses along MacDowell’s fellow quilt-scholars posited the subject of her whiteness. It's in 'The Iliad.'. Sharon Tindall uses a historical pattern made up of triangles and rectangles called Flying Geese. He bought it. Nowadays, some African American women make coded quilts for their daughters and granddaughters, and that will keep happening. A quilt was to be used," Dobard said. Tindall hopes her handmade quilts hanging in the Johnson House, a crucial station on the Underground Railroad and now a National Historic Site in Philadelphia, embody the spirit of the house and the presence of those who passed through. The Keystone XL pipeline is dead. Such is the case with Kaluli people of Papua New Guinea, who believe the spirits of their dead take up in particular animals, namely pigs and birds. The small herb, once easily spotted by its vibrant flower and leaves, is growing brown and gray in spots where humans often pluck them. "Consider the nature of quilts. While Tobin and Dobard were writing Hidden in Plain View in the late 1990s, MacDowell was in Michigan with a group of graduate students documenting African American quilts and recording stories. This particular quilt square sends the message for the slaves to pack their wagon, or to prepare to leave on a wagon to begin their trip on the Underground Railroad to freedom. historyofquilts.com. Dobard said. Maybe the protocols for experiences of belief versus fact are just different. Quilt historians and Underground Railroad experts have questioned the study's methodology and the accuracy of its findings. A partial list of some of the most common myths about the Underground Railroad would include the following: 1. In Hidden in Plain View, historian Jacqueline Tobin and scholar Raymond Dobard offer the first proof that certain quilt patterns, including a prominent one called the Charleston Code, were, in fact, essential tools for escape along the Underground Railroad. Simply put, she has faith. Sharon Tindall is a Virginia-based quilter, educator, and one in a tradition of contemporary quilters who design textile works inspired by this “quilt code.”, “When I’m creating a quilt, I’m focused on the purpose of the quilt,” she says. "It was an indication to pack up and go.". History of Quilts. Finally enslaved peoples were free to roam without running. Additionally, no original quilts remain. If you have never read, Hidden in Plain View by Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard, PhD., you should. "You were supposed to follow the literal footprints of the bear," Dobard said. The U.S. commits to tripling its protected lands. "Bears always go to water and berries and other natural food sources. Slaves created so-called “freedo… You feel their presence. The whole cloth quilt, also known as counterpane, is usually made of single pieces of material on the top and back, and the decoration is obtained by means of padded or corded quilting in more or less elaborate design. While every quilt made holds a special meaning to the quilter, there are some quilts and quilt blocks that have a much greater significance in the grand scheme of history. How could this interpretation of a quilt block have directed slaves hundreds of miles along a cruel course, across canyons and rivers, all the way to Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Indiana? Sharon Tindall, “Colorful Underground Railroad Sampler,” 2008, cotton, 88 x 70”. Our conversation stretched to weeks as I sought more detailed information about how they were used. “Now, I would not jump to any conclusions that every African American quilter held their needle pointing to the north, and that is the problem with the Hidden in Plain View book. “I’m thankful I am able to create something of comfort.”. They don’t have to do anything except believe. Tindall shared her beliefs on a trip to Liberia, a West African nation originally founded as a colony by the American Colonization Society to repatriate freed and free-born black people from America. “I walked around where they slept, where they ate. Grizzlies are coming back. Can carbon capture make flying more sustainable? Photo courtesy of Sharon Tindall. ‘I don’t even know if my home still exists.’, Old-fashioned images evoke the complicated history of Black military service, This ruthless African king knew Rome was for sale. Quilts with patterns named "wagon wheel," "tumbling blocks," and "bear's paw" appear to have contained secret messages that helped direct slaves to freedom, the pair claim. For Black History Month, we are taking a look at the Underground Railroad and how quilts were used to guide slaves/passengers on their journey north. “Almost every February, stories appear in papers across the country,” MacDowell explains, referencing African American History Month. They carried with them quilts and the stories of an enslaved South. It cannot be proven through recorded historical documents or defendable oral history. Whether or not the codes are “real,” Tobin and Dobard are responsible for a twenty-year tradition of craftsmanship that has cropped out of a confidence in what they wrote, in the codes. Recommended reading: Barbara Brackman, a noted quilt historian, recently published Civil War Sampler: 50 Quilt Blocks with Stories from History, which contains both Civil War era and new quilt blocks created in reproduction fabrics and tied to stories from the time. Most fugitive slaves who made it to the North found sanctuary along the way in secret rooms concealed in attics or cellars, and many escaped through tunnels. Folklore and myth "Documentary Evidence is Missing on Underground Railroad Quilts". Pinwheels in popular Civil War and Underground Railroad era colors. In 1999, Jaqueline Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard published Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad , and the story cycloned through trusted centers of news and knowledge: the New York Times Book Review, NPR, and others. In recent years, one of the most powerful quilt myths to emerge has centered on the role quilts may have played in the Underground Railroad. She was previously the director of publishing for Cfile Foundation, where she wrote, edited, and published extensively on the topic of contemporary and historic ceramic arts. Should we be concerned with hard evidence the Kaluli can provide for these deep-rooted belief systems? How the world’s largest rhino population dropped by 70 percent—in a decade, Pets are helping us cope during the pandemic—but that may be stressing them out, New chameleon species may be world’s smallest reptile, Same force behind Texas deep freeze could drive prolonged heat waves. The Underground Railroad operated throughout the South. To define “fact” is no easy undertaking. The Quilt Code. Drunkard’s Path = Zig-zag as you go along in case you are being stalked by hounds, Double Wedding Ring =Now it is safe to remove your chains and shackles. Can things change? “Follow the geese flying north. McDaniel claims that her ancestors passed down the secret of the quilt code from one generation to the next. Were they supposed to wait until spring if the sky wasn’t clear? It includes barn quilts painted in the various symbols of the Underground Railroad, quilts made by local residents, books, pictures and historical memorabilia from the long journey taken to freedom. Quilt historians Kris Driessen, Barbara Brackman, and Kimberly Wulfert do not believe the theory that quilts were used to communicate messages about the Underground Railroad.