Today, the quilt is more art form than useful art. Central heating, even when turned down, makes a quilt almost unnecessary (I, however, still love to use quilts my mother has made for me).
The utilitarian function of a quilt went beyond mere warmth, however. One quilt every household had was a red quilt that would be posted over a door. This would signal to would-be visitors that the home contained someone with a contagious illness. You see, at one time no one had phones, cell phones, computers, e-mail, radio, or television. You found out the news by visiting people. But if you don't want to spread disease, then you fashion a way to make the announcement with minimal exposure.
Thus the quilt has been a handy thing in American society and has been used for more than mere warmth. And this installment on the Underground Railroad focuses on the role the quilt may have played in the Underground Railroad.
I say may because there is some debate on that. In their book, Hidden in Plain View : A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad, Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard assert that quilts, left out to "air" and bearing markings, told the slaves when and where to flee on the Underground Railroad. This has been further buttressed by Ozella Williams who recounts the story of the quilts and their meanings on this website.
However, some historians are calling this into question. They tend to cite different interpretations for the same or similar patterns. They cite quilt exhibits that have quilts dated after the Civil War (since the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery at the conclusion of the war, there tended to be no further need of the Underground Railroad or quilts to guide fugitives). Are these valid points for "debunking" whether quilts were used or not? Not hardly.
Words in everyday English themselves may have slightly different meanings depending on the region one comes from. "Soda" in Wisconsin is called "pop" in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan while I am told Bostonians like to drink "tonic" and in Atlanta I would ask for a "Coke" and would be asked "what flavor?" You see, what we call a fizzy drink itself differs. As to quilts dating after the Civil War, it is likely some designs were made after the Civil War based on quilts someone remembered seeing. And even the dating of quilts is not without guesswork. One usually takes into account the time frame when a pattern was popularly used as well as the material that was used. But even then the dating process is not exact.
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