Secret Codes to Freedom on the Underground Railroad

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Program Type:

Discussion, Local History, Lecture

Age Group:

Everyone

Program Description

Event Details

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


Join Illinois Road Scholar Speaker Connie Martin as she tells the stories passed down to her great-grandmother Lizzie of how her family survived the antebellum period through trials and tribulations, and how they used quilts that contained hidden codes and secret messages to assist abolitionists–white and black–to guide enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad to Canada.

During this presentation, Connie shares eighteen different quilt patterns in replica quilts and refers to a book her mother, Dr. Clarice Boswell, wrote about their family called Lizzie’s Story: A Slave Family’s Journey to Freedom.

An ASL interpreter will provide interpretation. 

Connie Martin, MA, is a retired teacher and popular veteran fitness instructor. As a Road Scholar, she provides historical education through engaging live presentations to create awareness, growth, and inspiration for Illinois communities.

Presented by the Galesburg Public Library in partnership with the NAACP Galesburg through the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau.