What does the flying geese quilt mean?
Flying Geese: A signal to follow the direction of the flying geese as they migrated north in the spring. Most slaves escaped during the spring; along the way, the flying geese could be used as a guide to find water, food and places to rest.
What did slaves use as a compass?
Night sky illustration of the Big Dipper, or Drinking Gourd, in relation to the North Star and Little Dipper. As slave lore tells it, the North Star played a key role in helping slaves to find their way—a beacon to true north and freedom.
How did the Underground Railroad get its name?
Underground Railroad Quilt Codes The Underground Railroad was the secret path that enslaved people used to escape from their owners. This secret path was neither underground nor a railroad. It got its name because the enslaved people who took it disappeared without a trace as if they were traveling underground.
Are coded quilts real?
Nowadays, some African American women make coded quilts for their daughters and granddaughters, and that will keep happening. 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.
What is a safe house 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. 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.
What did the quilt patterns mean to slaves?
The quilt patterns, used in a certain order, relayed messages to slaves preparing to escape. Each pattern represented a different meaning. Some of the most common patterns were “Monkey Wrench,” “Star,” “Crossroads” and “Wagon Wheel.” Quilts slung over a fence or windowsill,