x, 208 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), color map ; 25 cm
text txt rdacontent
unmediated n rdamedia
volume nc rdacarrier
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-208).
Summary
Tobin met Ozella Williams in the Old Market Building in Charleston, South Carolina, and learned of the oral tradition and coded quilts used to navigate escapes on the Underground Railroad.
Contents
Foreword. The Heritage of an Oral Tradition: The Transmission of Secrets in African American Culture / Cuesta Benberry -- Foreword. The Importance of the Decorative Arts in African American History / Floyd Coleman -- Foreword. Secret African Signs Encoded in African American Quilts / Maude Southwell Wahlman -- Author's Note. "Write This Down" / Jacqueline Tobin -- Author's Note. Stitching Ideas into Patterns : Methodology in the Writing of Hidden in Plain View / Raymond C. Dobard.
The Fabric of Heritage : Africa and African American Quiltmaking -- The Underground Railroad -- "There Are Five Square Knots . ." -- "The Monkey Wrench Turns the Wagon Wheel . . ." -- "Once They Got to the Crossroads . . ." -- "Flying Geese Stay on the Drunkard's Path . . ." -- Steal Away -- African American Quilts : Styles and Traditions -- Epilogue / Jacqueline Tobin -- Timeline -- Ozella's Underground Railroad quilt code patterns -- Chart comparing African symbols, American quilt patterns and Masonic emblems.
