Lesson 3: Visual Communications on the Underground Railroad
Background Information
There were two major types of visual communication used on the Underground Railroad. One was a lantern and the other was a quilt. If a lantern was lit on a pole outside a house, the slave knew it was a safe house where they would be welcomed. If there was a lantern placed on a pole and it was not lit, this indicated danger.
The art of communication through quilts was strongly rooted in African culture. In the book, “Hidden in Plain View; A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad, Jaquelin Tobin writes about a woman named Ozella from Charleston, South Carolina. Ozella explains the quilt patterns used to communicate on the Underground Railroad. A quilt would be hung on a ‘dry line’ to indicate safety, danger, clues and landmarks. The stitches could be sewn as a map for a runaway slave to memorize.
READ; “Sweet Clara and The Freedom Quilt” by Deborah Hoplinson
Select objectives appropriate for your grade level.
Objectives:
Objective 1. The student will fill in the Quilt Clue graphic organizer
• 1st grade
• Math GLCE: The student will use coordinate systems
• 3rd and 4th grade
• Math GLCE: The student will create interpret and solve problems involving a pictograph
Objective 2. The student will work with a partner to assemble these clues and then independently write a journal in the first person using the clues. (It can be written from the perspective of the runaway slave of from the slave owner in pursuit.)
• ELA GLEC: The student will apply a variety of drafting strategies for both narrative and informational text.
• ELA GLEC: The student will edit and proofread their writing using appropriate resources (ELA Standard 8 Benchmark 1, Standard 2, Benchmark 4)
Objective 3. The student will draw a map from his/her house to the school. Create quilt squares for the geographical places you pass.
• Social Studies: I.IP.03.01. Organize social studies information to make simple maps, graphs, and tables
• Math Extension: The student will use the attached measurement worksheet to measure the area and perimeter of their quilt
• Math GLEC: The student will solve contextual problems about perimeters of rectangles and areas of rectangle regions.
Objective 4. The student will read Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
