Quilts: Slave Communications Along the Underground Railroad

As a student of communications methods of varying types, I am fascinated by the variety of ways in which we communicate with each other. One of the messaging systems of the past controversially includes quilt codes used by and for slaves as they escaped to freedom. Quilt patterns were used to communicate safe-passage messages and other information along Underground Railroad routes. More information about this form of communication is in this article (The Crisis Forum LINK) and in the book, Hidden in Plain View: The Secret Story of Quilts and The Underground Railroad, by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard.