In this month of February, waning fast, we are in the midst of celebrating Black History Month. Joan Baez performed for the president and his wife and honored guests at the White House. She dedicated her song, “We Shall Overcome,” to the late Dr. Martin Luther King.

This year is the first year ever that I have not been hounded by students who wanted me to “summarize” my thoughts about the role of quilts on the Underground Railroad (i.e. write their papers). Perhaps the word has been passed. They’d be barking up the wrong tree.

Today, I received a note from a concerned father. His son was given an assignment, and for extra credit, he can earn a better grade by finding “additional” examples of quilts used as signal devices on the Underground Railroad. Apparently, his teacher not only believes in the fallacious secret quilt code, but also thinks that somehow, somewhere, there are more quilts to be mentioned.

The word “more” gets me, since there has not been one quilt found or documented … no, I shall not rant, I shall not rant, I shall not rant.

I will tell you, however, as I told him, I know of two recent books that mention a direct involvement with escaping slaves and quilts. Read the amazon reviews and see if you think you’d like to read these books. I mean, it’s up to you as to how you’d like to spend your money, and rather than have me dictate what you should read, I think you might be more satisfied reading these books for yourself and coming to your own conclusions!

For your convenience, here are the links where you can learn more about these books:

The book that started the controversy:

I heard from this one conscientious parent who was trying to assist his son with his homework. Don’t we wonder what else is being taught, and where, that is simply not true?

The story of Harriet Powers, or Harriet Tubman, or Frederick Douglas, or any number of other African-Americans would make such a lovely substitute for this new buy generic viagra (quilt) history!

Patricia Cummings
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