Children's Literature
Hopkinson, D. (1993). Sweet Clara and the freedom quilt. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Clara is a young slave who assembles a quilt whose patterns serve as a map she uses to guide her toward freedom in Canada. Ask students to reflect on the ways Clara initiated change for herself and others in order to achieve freedom. Consider what resources were available to Clara to help her assemble the freedom quilt and why Clara chose to represent the Underground Railroad map as a quilt.
Hopkinson, D. (2001). Under the quilt of the night. New York: Atheneum.
A young girl flees from the farm where she has been working as a slave and uses the Underground Railroad to escape to freedom in the north. Ask students to consider how people worked together to create, support, and sustain the Underground Railroad. Explain that main of the people the students identified in the story are conductors of the Underground Railroad – free blacks, whites, and slaves who helped escaped slaves.
Ramsey, C.A. (2010). Ruth and the green book. Minneapolis, MN: Carolhoda Books.
When Ruth and her parents take a road trip from Chicago to Alabama in 1952, they use “The Negro Motorist Green Book” to find diners, inns, and gas stations that will serve them. Ask students to apply their knowledge of the Underground Railroad to recognize what is the same and different for African Americans traveling across the country nearly 100 years after slavery was abolished.
Vaughan, M. (2001). The secret to freedom. New York: Lee and Low Books, Inc.
Great Aunt Lucy tells a story of her days as a slave, when she and her brother, Albert, learned the quilt code to help direct other slaves and, eventually Albert himself, to freedom in Canada. While they are listening, ask students to consider why some people seek change while others do not?
Winter, J. (1988). Follow the drinking gourd. New York: Knopf.
Runaway slaves journey north along the Underground Railroad by following the directions in a song, “The Drinking Gourd”, taught to them by an old sailor named Peg Leg Joe, who travels among plantations teaching enslaved people a song that will assist them to freedom in Canada. While they are listening to the story, ask students to consider how this song helps change spreads through a community.
Clara is a young slave who assembles a quilt whose patterns serve as a map she uses to guide her toward freedom in Canada. Ask students to reflect on the ways Clara initiated change for herself and others in order to achieve freedom. Consider what resources were available to Clara to help her assemble the freedom quilt and why Clara chose to represent the Underground Railroad map as a quilt.
Hopkinson, D. (2001). Under the quilt of the night. New York: Atheneum.
A young girl flees from the farm where she has been working as a slave and uses the Underground Railroad to escape to freedom in the north. Ask students to consider how people worked together to create, support, and sustain the Underground Railroad. Explain that main of the people the students identified in the story are conductors of the Underground Railroad – free blacks, whites, and slaves who helped escaped slaves.
Ramsey, C.A. (2010). Ruth and the green book. Minneapolis, MN: Carolhoda Books.
When Ruth and her parents take a road trip from Chicago to Alabama in 1952, they use “The Negro Motorist Green Book” to find diners, inns, and gas stations that will serve them. Ask students to apply their knowledge of the Underground Railroad to recognize what is the same and different for African Americans traveling across the country nearly 100 years after slavery was abolished.
Vaughan, M. (2001). The secret to freedom. New York: Lee and Low Books, Inc.
Great Aunt Lucy tells a story of her days as a slave, when she and her brother, Albert, learned the quilt code to help direct other slaves and, eventually Albert himself, to freedom in Canada. While they are listening, ask students to consider why some people seek change while others do not?
Winter, J. (1988). Follow the drinking gourd. New York: Knopf.
Runaway slaves journey north along the Underground Railroad by following the directions in a song, “The Drinking Gourd”, taught to them by an old sailor named Peg Leg Joe, who travels among plantations teaching enslaved people a song that will assist them to freedom in Canada. While they are listening to the story, ask students to consider how this song helps change spreads through a community.
Background Knowledge Book
Tobin, J, & Dobard, R. G. (1999). Hidden in plain view: The secret story of quilts and the Underground Railroad. New York, NY: Doubleday.
While codes and symbols are known to have been used to communicate secret information to sustain the Underground Railroad, this book is the first to present an actual quilt pattern code whose designs and displays represent specific instructions for slaves escaping to freedom. Historian Jacqueline Tobin and quilt scholar Raymond Dobard explain the quilt code revealed to them by Ozella McDaniel Williams, an African American quilter whose grandmother, a seamstress, assembled Underground Railroad quilts. Ozella remembers the code, as this was passed down from her grandmother to her mother to her. Over several chapters, the authors' deconstruct the code and relate its symbolism to other documentation and known information about the Underground Railroad communication. In addition, the authors trace the history of Railroad quilting patterns, fabrics, and stitching techniques to those of African textiles to demonstrate how enslaved Africans preserved their cultural traditions in a new art medium.
This book is a valuable resource to unpacking the mystery of the Underground Railroad communication. The chapters provide intriguing descriptions to understand the symbolism embodied in each code as well as methods in which quilts were displayed and interpreted by enslaved people. Furthermore, the text is written as an unfolding narrative – like a mystery novel – that captures the reader's attention so to appreciate the tremendous ingenuity of the individuals who created a freedom code from unassuming resources. Despite the singularity of this book's story, several historians question the study's methodology and accuracy of its findings. While the quilt code as fact may never be secured with total certainty, the quilt code remains a compelling narrative worthy of appreciation.
While codes and symbols are known to have been used to communicate secret information to sustain the Underground Railroad, this book is the first to present an actual quilt pattern code whose designs and displays represent specific instructions for slaves escaping to freedom. Historian Jacqueline Tobin and quilt scholar Raymond Dobard explain the quilt code revealed to them by Ozella McDaniel Williams, an African American quilter whose grandmother, a seamstress, assembled Underground Railroad quilts. Ozella remembers the code, as this was passed down from her grandmother to her mother to her. Over several chapters, the authors' deconstruct the code and relate its symbolism to other documentation and known information about the Underground Railroad communication. In addition, the authors trace the history of Railroad quilting patterns, fabrics, and stitching techniques to those of African textiles to demonstrate how enslaved Africans preserved their cultural traditions in a new art medium.
This book is a valuable resource to unpacking the mystery of the Underground Railroad communication. The chapters provide intriguing descriptions to understand the symbolism embodied in each code as well as methods in which quilts were displayed and interpreted by enslaved people. Furthermore, the text is written as an unfolding narrative – like a mystery novel – that captures the reader's attention so to appreciate the tremendous ingenuity of the individuals who created a freedom code from unassuming resources. Despite the singularity of this book's story, several historians question the study's methodology and accuracy of its findings. While the quilt code as fact may never be secured with total certainty, the quilt code remains a compelling narrative worthy of appreciation.