A quilt laden with secret messages designed to help guide runaway slaves on the treacherous path to freedom is on display through June 30.
According to a National Parks Service press release, the quilt was sewn by a group of residents and donated to the National Park Service by the family of Dellerva Collins, and contains 14 panels with coded directions to guide an escape, and included milestones on the freedom trail. Jami Lanier, cultural resource manager at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, noted in the release that the quilt embodies a key moment in history and should be seen by everyone.
“It’s amazing how, despite the challenges, legends say enslaved African and African American people learned to improvise, communicating coded messages on what path to take and pitfalls to avoid as they began their journey to freedom,” Lanier said in the press release.
The quilt also depicts enslaved individuals traveling by boat to the Freedmen’s Colony on Roanoke Island, according to the press release. That colony was formed during the Civil War and offered homes, schools and a church and once included more than 3,500 people, according to the press release, which also noted the colony focused on the First Light of Freedom Monument on the historic site’s grounds.
The National Parks Service noted on its website that the Outer Banks, including Roanoke Island, fell under Union control in February of 1862, making the island a safe place for anyone seeking protection from the Union forces. Some would continue the trek north while others stayed in the colony, which endured until 1867.
Moreover, the National Park Service noted on its website that a census in 1864 tallied 2,212 black freedmen living on the island and a school with seven teachers had been established to educate the young. A sawmill also was erected, according to the website, and 561 homes had been constructed and the population approached 4,000.
