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

A Road Scholar Program by Connie Martin

Connie Martin with Quilt

Join Connie as she tells the stories passed down to her great-grandmother Lizzie of how her family survived the Anti-bellum period through trials and tribulations. 

Connie shares how they used quilts that contained hidden codes and secret messages to assist abolitionists; white and black, in guiding slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad to Canada.

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

Lizzie s Story a Slave Family s Journey to Freedom Paperback Cover

This event is Free and Open to the public. For more information, please contact Sarah Parkes at sarah.parkes@lagrangehistory.org.

Learn more about Connie Martin, this program, and how to book it here.