Age Population: Grades 4 – 12

Introduction:

Participants will have fun making their own quilt blocks, while learning about quilt symbols and how they helped slaves escape via the underground railroad.

      Background:

Could you go on a long trip aided by map images, trail tracks, and coded messages which tell you that a guide or helper would meet you on the way?  This is what African American slaves did many years ago when they followed the Underground Railroad Quilt Code.  Quilt symbols enabled African Americans to undertake actions for an escape journey.  They followed the North Star when they saw a particular symbol on a quilt that was hung out in plain sight. Africans had a craft tradition of quilt making.  Some of the symbols used had been passed on through generations of African Americans.  Still others were based on symbols that had roots in Africa, and therefore were somewhat easily recognized by escaping slaves.  The Underground Quilt Code consisted of primary symbols which were initially used when quilt coding began, and secondary symbols added later on.  The secondary symbols were often regional.  Frequently they were created by escaped slaves who returned south to help free others, and found that additional symbols would be useful for describing specifics of a particular terrain, escape route, etc. 

The quilt symbols gave instructions to prepare provisions and clothing, what to do on the journey, and where to travel safely.   The quilt symbols created a map in the mind as the people moved, often without the aid of a guide until much later on the trip.  These encoded messages within quilt patterns showed the ingenuity of the “conductors” who assisted the men, women, and children who followed the quilt code symbols to freedom.   In this workshop, we will make quilt blocks using primary code symbols and see how the code worked. 

Objectives:

Participants will learn the Underground Railroad Quilt Code, and see how it helped slaves escape to freedom.

Participants will learn to recognize the different geometric shapes and how to put them in pattern blocks  that follow the design.

Participants will learn to appreciate and understand the adversity slaves faced in their escape journey.

Methodology:

Participants will be given a package of precut colorful shapes in some of these geometric shapes: square, rectangle, triangle and diamond.

Each participant will assemble the quilt pieces to make one of the Underground

Railroad Quilt symbols and glue them onto precut poster board or construction paper.

Each participant will be given a preprinted piece of paper imprinted with the proper quilt code symbol identification to glue next to the quilt block.

Participants may view the symbols from a  reference source.

A review and discussion will follow the activity.

View the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Symbols Here

Fee Structure:

The cost of each program is as follows:

Educational group program I for 20 participants or fewer - $25.

Educational group program II for 30 participants - $35.

Educational group program III for over 30 participants, but fewer than 60 - $45.