a listmember wrote: >a quiltwork done by homes using the Underground > Railroad. On these quilts the wners placed maps so these slaves could travel > safely from house to house as well as other important information they made > need> This, unfortunately, is a widely held misperception, based on a book that has been widely challenged and discredited by quilt historians, women's historians, and historians of the underground railroad - even while it has been enthusiastically embraced by the media, the public, and writers of school curricula. There is no credible evidence that quilts were used as any kind of signalling or pathmarking system during the years of the underground railroad, and much practical and logical evidence against this idea, despite the fact that we all want to believe this kind of story about human ingenuity overcoming the horrors of oppression. For the debate, you can search the archives of H-QUILT, the mailing list for quilt scholars (which the posting was originally forwarded from). H-QUILT is at http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~quilt/, search keywords "underground railroad" or "hidden in plain view" (the book's name). Carol Ely Museum Consultant Louisville ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).