“Liberty is our motto” (in the old Granite State) [...] – This quilt is inspired by the words of the Hutchinson Family Singers of the nineteenth century who were abolitionists and traveled throughout the country and Europe singing songs that addressed the major topics of the time. Quilt designed and made by Patricia Cummings. This is NOT an underground railroad quilts but rather, is my tribute to abolition, suffrage and temperance issues of the nineteenth century.
For the last twelve years, I have watched as a speculative story on the part of an imaginative teacher and a fantasy-filled professor being disseminated to the American public and SOLD as gospel truth. Since it is Black Quilt History Month and I had not heard much about this topic, this time around, I decided to “Google” the term “Underground Railroad and Quilts.” One of the first sites that came up is one owned by Owen Sound. He provides a long list of magazine articles that support the theory. That does not surprise me, inasmuch as from the get-go, the National Park Service, National Geographic and other national entities, and yes, a celebrity, have endorsed and promoted the theory that escaping slaves communicated via the visual designs of quilt blocks.
Of course, the theory can go only so far until one runs up against practical concerns such as: Where did they get the cloth? How were they able to make quilt designs that were not even known or used until the twentieth century? Why are there no extant textiles of this kind? Why are there no references to this practice in any literature, anywhere, or even one mention of it by former slaves who gave oral interviews for the W.P.A. in the 1930s? These are just a few considerations of the impracticable nature of the so-called “secret quilt code” shared by Ozella McDaniel Williams in a Charleston marketplace where she vended quilts. The connection between marketing and the story should be apparent.
Some writers refer to the quilt code controversy among scholars. As far as I know, there is no such “controversy” among quilt historians or historians. They know that where there is no smoke, there is no fire. The smoke is missing here, sort of the same question of the TV commercial that shows two hamburger buns and someone saying, “But, where’s the beef?”
Yet, the American public has latched onto this theme and made it their own, incorporating it into school programs as an easy, palatable and pleasant way to circumvent the details of slavery, in all of its brutality. No, we cannot warp our children by revealing the merciless beatings, the chains and shackles, the rapes by “Massa” that often resulted in new babies. No, but quilt blocks are pretty convenient. They are benign. They also show how very “smart” these African Americans were to have this code and thereby, get one over on “Whitey.”
The quilting industry has loved the secret quilt code story. Eleanor Burns produced a book telling quilters just how to replicate the quilt blocks in question and suddenly, quilt shops began holding workshops and the new genre of “Underground Railroad Quilts” was born. These began showing up in quilt exhibitions.
The new myth, and that is the only word for it, has taken on a life of its own. The proponents of the code are fierce. One woman told me that I do not deserve to live because I don’t believe in the code! That was after she had read my article in a national magazine. I have written extensively about this subject and there are a number of long and detailed files on my main website. I wonder why this story cannot be accepted for the cute, we-wish-it-were-true-but-it isn’t, fiction that it is.
I have come to the conclusion that people like a little trip into imagination land. There is no harm in that. The trouble is simple. Don’t pass off fantasy as fact or call it History. I am sure that people enjoying making these “Underground Railroad” quilts and they will continue to do so. I would urge them to do so in a manner of what we wish had happened.
The fellow whose site I mentioned earlier lists the song “My Darling Nelly Gray” on his website, as if that proves something about the code. I sing that song and know its background, which I share in a web file. I like the song and feel it has a place worthy of consideration, EVEN THOUGH it is entirely fabricated and does not refer to real people. The fact that it “could” do so makes it representative of the times in which it was written. Give it a listen.
In summary, consensus of popular opinion among the unknowing can never turn a lie into the truth. This situation reminds me of a more recent one when President Obama, born in Hawaii and a Christian all of his life, was accused of being a non-citizen and of the Muslim faith. People will do or say anything to further their own agendas and political goals. Take everything you hear with a measure of skepticism until you can verify what is true.
We do nothing to celebrate the hardships of slaves or their later-found freedom when we stick to beliefs that have no basis in reality. Better to concentrate on the great accomplishments and contributions of African-Americans… and there are plenty. The current fixation on the secret quilt code is that it seems to be history that we have not known about before now. I realize that this has been a “rant.” To read a more scholarly treatise on this matter, visit my website and this file in particular:
The first online article I ever wrote about this topic can be read here: http://www.quiltersmuse.com/underground_railroad_and_quilts_blocks.htm
Patricia Cummings
