“The African American charm called a Mojo or a ‘hand’ is often a square made of red flannel which is carried in the pocket or worn around the neck. Zora Neale Hurston recorded numerous instructions for how to make these charms. One also sees them on African-American quilts, particularly those using the Nine-Patch pattern. Sara Mary Taylor even made a quilt with both a blue hand and a red square, indicating her mastery of the signals.”
Hidden in Plain View by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard is a compelling narrative about the Underground Railroad and the quilts that marked it, centered on the conversations Ms. Tobin had with Ozella McDaniel Williams. Williams is a griot: one who memorizes the oral history of her people and recites it to the next generation who will fill her role in the years to come. In her role of oral historian, Williams tells the tale of the quilts of the Underground Railroad. Signal quilts (although this topic is in dispute in history circles) were set out as part of an information system along any given Underground Railroad route. The pattern, the space between ties and the number of knots used to secure each tie, the quilting as topographical map — all of these were a message board to anyone who had learned the “code” to read them. Ms. Tobin ties quilts and codes to the slaves’ African heritage with fascinating cultural paralells.
Most of all, this book is a tribute to those who never gave up the hope of freedom in the face of overwhelming odds.
