The Underground Railroad Quilt Code - Reality or Myth?

The "Quilt Code" is a system of African-based symbols stitched into quilts created by slaves. These quilts were hung from clothes lines or in windows, offering secret instructions to runaway slaves. But is the "Quilt Code" a legitimate Underground Railroad missing link, overlooked until recent decades, or is it an elaborate marketing scheme created to sell books and quilts?

Sarah Center Quilters - Quilting The Code:

In 2003 the Sarah Center Quilters, part of a Cincinnati women's ministry, created "Quilt Code" squares believing placement for sale in the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center gift shop was a done deal. A Freedom Center contact had passed along her excitement over the recently discovered slave tradition and implied, once they opened, the museum would be a ready market for the squares.

The Sarah Center Quilters, most of whom were inner city residents, held classes on Thursdays and learned beginner to advanced techniques. Like the Sarah Center Jewelry artists, the quilters earn a supplementary income selling their creations at local shops and craft shows. The "Quilt Code" squares would open up a whole new market, they believed; so the quilt instructor purchased a book with photos of the squares, instructions and details on the coded messages. The women worked hard to learn the techniques and began crafting the squares as wall hangings, excited at the prospect of work so significant.

The "Quilt Code" - Reality or Myth?

Under the impression that the Freedom Center gift shop would sell their "Code" squares, Sarah Center representatives attempted to set up a meeting with the shop buyer. They were taken aback when their phone calls got no response.

After numerous calls, emails and a few contacts through go-betweens, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Gift shop buyer called to apologize for the delay. She explain a dilemma: The "Quilt Code" might very well be a hoax. The Freedom Center had just opened, but they were investigating recent allegations and had in the works an expository exhibit reviewing what researchers had uncovered on the "Quilt Code" as reality or Myth.

The Very Recent History of "The Code"-

In recent years, historians seeking legitimate documentation of the coded quilt connection to Underground Railroad safe houses found the idea first mentioned in a 1987 video called "Hearts and Hands." Also in 1987, a woman named Maude Wahlman did a thesis which later became the basis for her book, "Signs and Symbols."

In 1993 a children's book, "Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt" told the tale of a little girl creating a "Quilt Map" that guided children to freedom. Not long after "Sweet Clara" was published, author Jacqueline Tobin encountered quilter Ozella Williams using "Code" tales to sell quilts in South Carolina. According to writer Leigh Fellner, Williams claimed the codes originated from Secret societies in Africa and the information had been passed down in African oral tradition from slave relatives.

Tobin is alleged to have contacted Williams for more information, and after a series of interviews, she and co-author, Raymond Dobard, wrote "Hidden In Plain View." The book was published by Random House in 1999 and featured on a television talk show.

The "Code" concept, picked up by other quilters, shop owners and writers, became an equal opportunity money maker. William's relatives created a business based on "Code" lectures and "Code" kits, and have recently opened a museum and gift shop based on the "Quilt Code."

Assumed Genuine-

According to Fellner, the phenomena which came to be known as the Underground Railroad Quilt Code, was assumed genuine without any legitimate documentation of its veracity. It has been taught in schools with lesson plans available on the Internet and has become a money maker for many.

Fellner concluded the "Code" surfaced at a time when Americans had taken an interest in the Underground Railroad. Her research shows the ancestors of those profiting from "Code" lecture series remained slaves until they were freed. They never actually escaped to the north, and remain in the south to this day. Fellner feels this confirms they could not have had first hand experience using alleged "Quilt Codes" to make an escape.

Many books have been published on the topic; in the meantime, no historian can verify the quilt code theory. Scholars have found numerous discrepancies between what books interpret the symbols to have meant to runaway slaves and what African culture, from which they are alleged to have derived, describes as the actual meaning the same symbols.

"Fakelore"-

Fellner calls it "Fakelore" and backs her theories with ample evidence, the WPA slave narrative project for example. During the 1930s WPA Writers traveled the south documenting many aspects of slave life from those who lived to tell the tale. None of those first hand accounts, nor any other historical data she found, mentioned the quilts or any similar code.

Felltner has published her "Quilt Code" research in a book, "Betsy Ross Redux:The Underground Railroad Quilt Code," which she offers as a free pdf download at http://www.ugrrquilt.hartcottagequilts.com/

So What Happened to The Sarah Center Quilters?-

Reality or Myth, we may never know; but the Sarah Center jewelry instructor who was also in charge of marketing the quilter's work, eventually arranged a meeting with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center buyer. She bought jewelry for their gift shop and decided to buy the "Quilt Code" squares, as well.

Whether the "Code" is reality or myth, it has fascinated many and the Sarah Center Quilter's "Code Squares" have sold quite well.

"Quilt Codes"-

Dresden Plate- Look for the Dresden plate windows in Canada

Monkey Wrench- Gather tools for the journey ahead

Flying Geese - Head north

Tumbling Blocks - Gather food, clothing and anything you can find to use as weapons

Drunkard's Path - Travel in a staggered path

Sources:

http://www.quilthistory.com/ugrrquilts.htm

Betsy Ross Redux:The Underground railroad "Quilt Code" by Leigh Fellner, available as a free pdf download at -

http://www.ugrrquilt.hartcottagequilts.com/