joannc

I finished the quilt and have had it quilted and now having the binding attached so I can finish the binding by hand. It took me almost a year to complete it. It is beautiful. Can't attach a picture from my iPad.

Lady Jane

There is a lot of histry behind quilts !!!

Scissor Queen

Except there are quilt historians, civil war historians and underground railroad historians that ALL say it's total fiction.

quilterpurpledog

I read the book, "Hidden in Plain Sight" cited above. The authors did a great deal of research to write their book. Seems very plausible to me. These were desperate people and there were many who were sympathetic to their plight. Thus, I can see a system to helping slaves escape.

Lady Diana

This is a myth! Great fiction, though.

Lady Diana

It would make sense that someone could find a quilt in a hidden space, barn or old house. They were a way to give comfort when lying on a wooden floor and to keep you warm. There have been a lot of antiques and money hidden in walls of old homes. Ridiculous to think that anything "left behind" was part of a travel conspiracy message among slaves. What would it be....it was hidden....then the quilt would tell them, what?
There is just too much information debunking this story. It is a story, not historical fact....even the authors say that it "could be true"....NOT. Don't try to change history. Just because something is in a museum, doesn't mean that explanations are true.....case in point, visit the London Museum sometime. They have a display of an Armadillo from Texas stating that they are a very poisonous animal. Had to laugh at that one.

justme CA

I love to read and even when mot everything you read in a book is the bare truth all still teaches something. The book The Last Runaway by the author of the Girl with the Pearl Earring is a great read. It is about quits and that period but it tells a lot about people and their values.

ptquilts

The difference between the hobo symbols and the URR quilts is, "source documents". From the 1930's on, at the same time they were making the symbols, there was written documentation about what they were doing.

The URR - people wrote books about it after the Civil War. NO ONE mentioned quilt symbols. It was NEVER written down until recently.

This is how historians work - they go back and look at documents of the time they are studying - books, letters, diaries, etc.

grannie cheechee

My gr grandparents owned a cafe, and the Hoboes did mark the places they could get a meal. My grandma said she saw them make a mark with a knife or a nail. She said her parents were very kind hearted, and the hoboes would always ask if they could do something for the food ie sweep the sidewalk or pick up trash. Not like the men that stand on the side of the road with signs that say will work for food. The UR, unless they had a quilts with different signs? it would have been a mess with the wrong sign.

jeanharville

I attended the same program #1Piecemaker did in Ashdown. I had already heard that the story was fiction, so I listened carefully to how they presented their information. When they introduced their program and before presenting each block they reiterated that this was oral history taken from "Hidden in Plain Sight". So they did not present this as the gospel. There have been many things thought to be myth then later found to be fact. One was that of Jefferson having black children. Only recently with DNA testing it has been proven to be fact. I don't know if the UGRR quilt story is fact or not, but I do believe it could have some truth to it. It's true that most of the slaves travelled at night. But when it was white ministers or other white sympathizers conducting in the daytime the quilts could have been markers. Who writes history? usually white men. This story is black oral history and is basically a woman's contribution story. I think it could have happened. In the history of WWI and WWII codes and marking were used to signal safe houses. Why would the UGRR be any different?