In Honor of Black History Month: Underground Railroad Quilting Codes
>Secret messages in the form of quilt patterns aided slaves escaping the bonds of captivity in the Southern states before and during the American Civil War.
>Most quilt patterns had their roots in the African traditions the slaves brought with them to North America when they were captured and forced to leave their homeland.
>The Africans’ method of recording their history and stories was by committing it to memory and passing it on orally to following generations. Quilt patterns were passed down the same way.
>It is interesting to note that, in Africa, the making of textiles was done by males; it was not until the slaves’ arrival in North America that this task fell to the females.
Click Link Below for Examples of Quilt Patterns & Their Meanings for Freedom
http://www.osblackhistory.com/quiltcodes.p...
>Most quilt patterns had their roots in the African traditions the slaves brought with them to North America when they were captured and forced to leave their homeland.
>The Africans’ method of recording their history and stories was by committing it to memory and passing it on orally to following generations. Quilt patterns were passed down the same way.
>It is interesting to note that, in Africa, the making of textiles was done by males; it was not until the slaves’ arrival in North America that this task fell to the females.
Click Link Below for Examples of Quilt Patterns & Their Meanings for Freedom
http://www.osblackhistory.com/quiltcodes.p...
..."As oral histories leave no written record, there is no written proof that the codes in the quilt patterns actually existed. What remains are the stories passed down through the generations from the slaves themselves, and, following the code of secrecy, many of the stories were never told"...
http://www.osblackhistory.com/quilts.php
..."The textile traditions of African peoples are less thoroughly documented than other aspects of folk art such as music, dance, or speech. However what is known can be traced back to the prominent influences of four civilizations of Central and West Africa...As slaves, and also their textiles, were traded heavily throughout the Caribbean, Central America, and the Southern United States, the traditions of each distinct region became intermixed. Thus by the time that early African American quilting became a tradition in and of itself, it was already a combination of textile traditions.
http://art-smart.ci.manchester.ct.us/fiber...