Title: Hidden in plain view
First published: 1999
Description: In 1993, author Jacqueline Tobin visited the Old Market Building in the historic district of Charleston, South Carolina, where local craftspeople sell their wares. Amid piles of beautiful handmade quilts, Tobin met African American quilter Ozella Williams and the two struck up a conversation. With the admonition to "write this down," Williams began to tell a fascinating story that had been handed down from her mother and grandmother before her.

Now, based on Williams's story and their own research, Tobin and Dobard, in what they call "Ozella's Underground Railroad Quilt Code," offer proof that some slaves were involved in a sophisticated network that melded African textile traditions with American quilt practices and created a potent result: African American quilts with patterns that conveyed messages that were, in fact, essential tools for escape along the Underground Railroad.
Subjects: African American quilts, Underground railroad, Social aspects, Communication, Ciphers, Social aspects of African American quilts, Fugitive slaves, History, Quilts, Slavery, united states, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, underground movements, New York Times reviewed, Fugitive slaves, united states
Places: United States
Time periods: 19th century
LC classification: E450 .T63 1999