Pre-Civil War Quilts: Secret Codes to Freedom on the Underground Railroad

Listen to Connie Martin tell stories passed down to her great grandmother, Lizzie, of how her family survived the antebellum period. Lizzie’s Story: A Slave Family’s Journey to Freedom, a book written by Connie's mother, Dr. Clarice Boswell, also recounts the family’s story. See eighteen different quilt patterns in replica quilts that contain hidden codes and secret messages that helped abolitionists guide slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad to Canada. 

This event is being produced in partnership with Illinois Humanities. The Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau invites Illinois authors, artists, and educators to share their expertise and enthusiasm with people throughout the state, enabling local nonprofit organizations to present free-admission cultural programs to their communities. Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council Agency], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.