The Saturday Journal: The Voice of the African-American Quilt (Part Two)
Part Two of The Voice of the African-American Quilt
African-American quilt maker Ozella McDaniel Williams learned of the quilt patterns being utilized as an escape to the Underground Railroad through stories handed down from generation to generation. She was the keeper of her family stories. Researcher and co-author, Jacqueline Tobin of Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad met Mrs. Williams in a city marketplace in Charleston, South Carolina in 1993.
Once the fugitives made it through the mountains, the next landmark they would look for was the fork in the road–the crossroads. The fourth quilt pattern, “the Crossroads” meant protection and refuge for the escapees (James, Jr. & Farmer). Tobin and Dobard’s (1999) research revealed the crossroads referred to the city of hope–the city of Cleveland, Ohio. It was a turning point in the escaped slave’s life because it provided many passages to freedom (Gery, Tobin & Dobard).
The next quilt pattern to be displayed was the “Log Cabin” quilt. At the crossroads many fugitives would make the choice to stay at a designated cabin for a short time until the road was safe (Tobin & Dobard).
“Shoofly” design was the sixth quilt pattern and according to Mrs. Williams, the “Shoofly” was an actual person who helped the escaping slaves. The “Shoofly” had huge responsibilities including harboring and aiding the fugitives.
For the seventh message, the slaves would watch for the “Bow Tie” quilt. The secret code in the quilt told the escapees to take a change of clothes, dress up in cottons and bows, in a formal manner. The fugitives would change in new clothes and there would be someone there to assist them in taking off their chains (Tobin & Dobard).
The majority of the symbolism in the quilt codes was instructional, however some researchers argue the last three designs, the “Flying Geese”, “Drunkard’s Path” and the “North Star” were purely descriptive (Tobin & Dobard).
The “Flying Geese” design was a representation of “fleeing slaves”. The “Drunkard’s Path” warned slaves not to walk in a straight path. The purpose of the zigzag patterns was to allude slave hunters and related to the ancient African belief that evil moved in straight lines (James, Jr.).
The final quilt design was the “North Star”. According to oral history and folklore, the “North Star” served as light and a navigational guide. Following the “North Star” was symbolic of the Wise Men following the star to find Jesus. The “North Star" was a symbol of hope, freedom, and salvation (Tobin & Dobard).
Researchers such as Fry (2002), Tobin and Dobard (1999) relied on the WPA Federal Writers Project, African-American nineteenth century writings and oral customs to support their theories. Historians Elsa Barkley Brown and Bettina Aptheker believe African-American quilts are resources to be utilized to record cultural and political history. Brown and Aptheker wrote, “The voices of black women are stitched within their quilts” (Cash).
Scholars declare messages and secret codes were displayed in the hand-made quilts, however the absence of historical data concerning slave women and the availability of slave-made quilts has made research difficult (Fry, Tobin & Dobard). And researchers have criticized Tobin for her “black folklore” and her research stemming from interviews and telephone conversations with elderly quilt maker, Ozella McDaniel Williams who instructed Tobin to “write this down” when she began to tell her story about the Underground Railroad Quilt Codes (Tobin & Dobard, Patton).
New stories surface and often times, history is rewritten. It happens every day, yet there is still skepticism and doubt, especially when the research method of oral history is involved. Whether researcher Tobin conducted her interviews with Ozella McDaniel Williams as an oral historian or as a folklorist, the end results are the same. A story was told–a story that has been approached with doubt as well as a story that has left many with a thirst for more.
We spend our years as a tale that is told.
Psalm 90:9
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