Although not having something written doesn't mean it isn't true. Perhaps we are so into believing what we see in print it taints us to believing in what is spoken. These days, our brains are not tuned in to remembering things for very long, at lease mine isn't ;). It is a shame that many people believed in the 'simpleton' idea but thankfully, not all believed that.
I thought it might be an interesting idea to make an UGRR quilt from strictly african prints so a few years ago I started collecting those and got a book to make the quilts. It's in my TBS (to be started) stash.