Hidden in Plain View : A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
When quiltmaker Ozella McDaniels told Jacqueline Tobin of the Underground Railroad Quilt Code, it sparked Tobin to place the tale within the history of the Underground Railroad. Hidden in Plain View documents Tobin and Raymond Dobard's journey of discovery, linking Ozella's stories to other forms of hidden communication from history books, codes, and songs. Each quilt, which could be laid out to air without arousing suspicion, gave slaves directions for their escape. Ozella tells Tobin how quilt patterns like the wagon wheel, log cabin, and shoofly signaled slaves how and when to prepare for their journey. Stitching and knots created maps, showing slaves the way to safety.
The authors construct history around Ozella's story, finding evidence in cultural artifacts like slave narratives, folk songs, spirituals, documented slave codes, and children's' stories. Tobin and Dobard write that "from the time of slavery until today, secrecy was one way the black community could protect itself. If the white man didn't know what was going on, he couldn't seek reprisals." Hidden in Plain View is a multilayered and unique piece of scholarship, oral history, and cultural exploration that reveals slaves as deliberate agents in their own quest for freedom even as it shows that history can sometimes be found where you least expect it. --Amy Wan
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The New York Times Book Review, Andrea Higbie
Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard present the fascinating theory that slaves created quilts coded with patterns to help one another flee to freedom.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Hidden in Plain View : A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad
Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad,Jacqueline L. Tobin,Raymond G. Dobard,Anchor,0385497679,19th century,Afro-American quilts,Communication,Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General,Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor,Fugitive slaves,History,Slavery,Social Science,Social aspects,Sociology,Underground railroad,United States,United States - 19th Century,United States - Civil War,Slavery & emancipation,Social Science / African-American Studies,True stories of endurance & survival,USA
Books Report:
Recommended Books