Quilt Codes of the Underground Railroad
When a slave owner was chasing a runaway slave and lost view of him, he declared that the slave vanished on the “Underground Railroad”. Thus, the idea of the Underground Railroad serving as a passage to freedom for escaped slaves emerged. Rather than a physical track or set path, the Underground Railroad was a network of abolitionists and safe houses that helped slaves escape from the plantations in the south to the north, specifically Ohio and Canada. The safe houses along the way were known as “Stations”, those who guided the escapees were called “Conductors” and the runaways were called “Passengers”.
One of the most critical components of the Underground Railroad was secrecy. During the 20th century stories emerged about the African American quilts used during the mid-1800s.
Historians disagree about the validity of the idea that the quilts contained encoded messages. Some researchers believe the quilts were hung out on clotheslines or fences in full view of slaves and slave owners alike with messages hidden from everyone except those who initiated or headed the message. There were at least fourteen different patterns (using various combinations of geometric patterns, abstract designs, bold colors, and stitches) used in the secret quilt codes, all of which are still very much in use by modern quilters. See the sampler pictured above.
My presentation includes a display of the blocks of the Underground Railroad Quilt Codes that was the oral history shared by Ozella McDaniel Williams*, a descendent of slaves, with the authors of the book, Hidden in Plain View. Ms. McDaniel’s stories support the stories handed down by our ancestors and illustrate the importance of kinship and oral history that have been passed down within families for generations.
*Tobin, Jacqueline I. & Raymond G. Dobard, PH.D.
Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of
Quilts and the Underground Railroad.
Anchor Books, New York, NY. 1999.
My Story
Dr. Blanche S. Brownley is a retired mathematics educator who worked in the District of Columbia Public Schools in several capacities from a middle school mathematics teacher to the K-12 mathematics director. Dr. Brownley has also worked as adjunct professor at American, Howard, and Trinity Washington Universities teaching mathematics and research methods courses. Assuming leadership roles with the National and District of Columbia Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Council of Basic Education and Pearson Publishing Company she has facilitated teacher training and professional development sessions all over the world and throughout the United States. Her work at the Sandy Spring Slave Museum and African Art Gallery in Sandy Spring Maryland has motivated Dr. Brownley to dig even deeper into African American History, allowing her to offer information while serving as a docent at the museum. Dr. Brownley is particularly interested in working with students, school field trips and patrons of all ages. She is a member of Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) and a member of the Montgomery County chapter. As a Washingtonian, Dr. Brownley's family roots are in St. Mary’s County, MD and Caroline County, Virginia.
Presentation
Underground Railroad Quilt Codes: History or Mystery?
Goals: Explore the role of Oral History, Quilt Codes, and the importance of this generation documenting our oral history.
Presentation Outcomes:
1. Participants will be able to identify the roll of quilting and the quilt codes during slavery, Underground Railroad and African American History in the late 19th and early 20th century.
2. Participants will know the role of oral history, how it impacts us today, and can impact our future.
Presentation Summary: Dr. Brownley will share her story as a beginning quilter and how finding new quilt patterns led to her discovering the Quilt Codes of the Underground Railroad. During her research she found that this aspect of the Underground Railroad had been researched by some and still referred to as fabricated stories by historians. Were quilts used to aid the escaping slaves? Her presentation reviews her search into the history of quilting from Africa to America, the meaning of the quilt codes and how the codes are easily linked to different aspects of Underground Railroad and our ancestor’s quest for freedom. Her final point will also look at what African Americans must do to ensure that our story cannot be pushed aside as myth and/or folklore like what is being done with the quilt codes.
Handmade Art Doll
enslaved woman completing a quilt with the Monkey Wrench Quilt Block. Project completed April 2020 as part of doll making class at Montgomery College (ongoing class).