STITCHES IN TIME: Quilting Ladies bring stories, history of Railroad to life

Flo Stevenson of the Pleasant Hill Quilting Ladies points to a specific quilt square during a presentation for Texas Middle School sixth-graders Thursday at the Sullivan Performing Arts Center. The Pleasant Hill Quilting Ladies are a group of quilters that tell the story of the secret codes and songs used on the Underground Railroad.
Flo Stevenson of the Pleasant Hill Quilting Ladies points to a specific quilt square during a presentation for Texas Middle School sixth-graders Thursday at the Sullivan Performing Arts Center. The Pleasant Hill Quilting Ladies are a group of quilters that tell the story of the secret codes and songs used on the Underground Railroad.

It's a spiritual vocabulary that led many African-Americans away from bondage and firmly on the path of freedom. The practice of using specialized quilt squares was a means of communication for those traveling along the Underground Railroad, and area students learned the details and importance of the hand-stitched patterns during a presentation Thursday at Texas High School.

Nine members of the Pleasant Hill Quilters group, based in Linden, Texas, were dressed in cotton dresses, hats and aprons similar to what slaves wore in the 1800s and told the story of the detailed quilt patterns that sent life-or-death messages to slaves who were escaping bondage.

"The Underground Railroad happened from the very beginning of when the first slave was brought here to America in chains from Africa," group member Flo Stevenson told the approximately 600 Texas Middle School sixth graders. "The reason the Underground Railroad had happened was because anytime a person is held in bondage, sooner or later, they're going to try to escape. Escape to freedom and away from bondage."

During the program, she pointed to each of the 12 squares on the sampler quilt as one of the club members described exactly what message that combination of colored cloth and thread sent to the escapees.

The "monkey wrench" meant for slaves to gather tools for the upcoming journey to Canada. The "wagon wheel" meant that it was time to leave that location. The "bear paw" meant to follow animal trails through the woods, and the "bow tie" meant it was time for a change of clothes to blend in with those in that area. In between the description of each square, the ladies sang slave songs, including "Wade in the Water," and "Swing Low Sweet Chariot," which also contained coded messages slave masters didn't understand. Other quilt names were detailed, including the "north star," "flying geese," "log cabin," "sailboat," "drunkard's path" and "shoo-fly."

Stevenson said the quilting group was formed in 2004 after she read the book "Hidden in Plain View" by Jacqueline Tobin and and Raymond Dobard, which talks about how quilts were used in the Underground Railroad. They created a sampler quilt for Black History Month that year, she said, and meet every week at the Pleasant Hill School in Linden to continue the art.

The school was built in 1925 and served African American children in grades one through eight until its closure in 1964. It was a Rosenwald school, named after Julius Rosenwald, who worked with Booker T. Washington to educate rural black Americans. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and now serves as a community center.

Stevenson said the group gives about 20 performances a year across the area and even in Washington D.C., where they gave the quilt presentation on Capitol Hill in 2015 for Rosenwald's great-grandson.

Robin Hilton, the TMS social studies teacher who organized the event, said the students had also made paper quilts with images of famous African Americans to culminate with the presentation.

"We want them to have a really good program for black history month," she said. "(We're trying) to bring about cohesion, and an understanding of our differences. And, you've gotta know where you come from."

The Pleasant Hill Quilting Group can be contacted through their Facebook page, at 903-826 2495 or at [email protected]. More information is also available at Pleasanthilltexas.com.

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