How quilts were used in the Underground Railroad
#21
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida
Posts: 2,229
Most "station masters" and "conductors" - the people involved in the UGRR- only knew the next station and sometimes the one before them. The less one person knew about others the more protected everyone was. Obviously signals were worked out to allow conductors to know if it was safe to bring their passengers into the "station". It might have been something hanging in a certain spot, or a specific color etc. quilts, as well as other items might have been used. This may be where the story began, and the myth grew over time.
#22
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: dallas tx.
Posts: 5,172
Well, I don't know about the authenticity of the stories, EXCEPT, I remember as a little girl a hobo sitting on our back porch more than once eating, because my Mother had fixed them a plate. We lived a block from the railroad and my Dad worked on the railroad. PS. This was in Indiana
Last edited by barny; 04-24-2013 at 05:23 PM.
#23
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 6,006
Well, I don't know about the authenticity of the stories, EXCEPT, I remember as a little girl a hobo sitting on our back porch more than once eating, because my Mother had fixed them a plate. We lived a block from the railroad and my Dad worked on the railroad. PS. This was in Indiana
#25
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 323
I have the book 'Hidden in Plain View" by Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard, Ph.D. but have not finished it.
Perhaps someone is interested in finding out more of the mystery of myth/or true history.
Perhaps someone is interested in finding out more of the mystery of myth/or true history.
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Northern Indiana
Posts: 2,679
I think that maybe the myth/story/etc. about the URR continues is because deep down in all of us, we want to believe that there's good in everybody. All tho, with all the stuff that's happening lately, sometimes hard to keep that thought.
#27
It does make a great story, doesn't it? But think of all the reasons it WOULDN'T work - travel had to be on a dark, moonless night, so the slaves on foot wouldn't be seen. How on earth could they see a quilt hanging on a fence? If slaves from lots of plantations knew of a code, do you really think slave owners wouldn't? Do you really think the slaves needed a quilt block to tell them to take necessary tools, follow the North Star, or wait until it was safe? I think the story has been disproved, but again, a great story.
#28
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,918
It is an interesting story & there could be some truth to it. Do we really know?? I know from stories from my youth about signs on fences for hobos to get some food at homes. There were homes no one went to unless you want buck shot in the butt!!
#29
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Spokane WA
Posts: 151
From what I have heard about the Underground RR, escaping slaves were transported by whites, like in the back of a wagon, at night. I never heard about them wandering around looking for quilts on a line.
I don't mind people telling stories, but when they present them as history it bothers me.
I don't mind people telling stories, but when they present them as history it bothers me.
Exactly! Don't think people would have been "airing" their quilts over fences at night and the unfortunate slaves would not have been moving in broad daylight. Just Google "underground railroad quilt myths" for good information. Unfortunately, there are just as many articles perpetuating the "romantic" stories as there are debunking these stories.
#30
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Central PA
Posts: 1,920
We live along the Juniata River and were supposed part of the trail North. My BIL was telling how a fellow teacher had purchased a farm and was in the process of making repairs when he discovered a false ceiling in the barn. It was a hiding place. When it was disassembled, he found a journal and a sizeable piece of one of the quilts. Left behind on purpose or just forgotten? These items were given to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Perfectly believable to me.
Last edited by Suz; 04-25-2013 at 04:01 AM.
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