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Learn about "Hobo Quilts and Railroads" Nov. 12

Quilt aficionados and rail fans will have an opportunity to satisfy both passions, during a special "Hobo Quilts and Railroads" presentation at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the McHenry County Historical Society Museum, 6422 Main St., Union.

"Being a quilt shop owner, I was always looking for something unusual," author and quilter Debra Henninger said. She was inspired to learn more about hobos and railroads after reading Errol Lincoln Uys' "Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression." In particular, Henninger said the secret sign language hobos used intrigued her.

Castigated by the public and frequently illiterate, hobos frequently used chalk and coal dust to communicate with their fellow travelers. Crossed lines, for example, signaled danger. An upturned smile with a dot above it meant that the cops there would leave them be.

Henninger researched these circles, arrows and squiggles and adopted them in many quilt designs. Her 2010 book, "Hobo Quilts: 55+ Original Blocks Based on the Secret Language of Riding the Rails" features historic photos and exerpts from hobo letters. The book also contains 21 original projects made from the hobo blocks she has compiled.

"I always promise [those who attend my lectures] that they will learn more about hobos than they ever wanted to," Henninger said with laugh.

During the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression, an estimated 3.5 million people moved away from the Plaines states during the 1930s. Henninger said that vast migration included some 120,000 young men who hopped the rails and were never seen or heard from again.

"This generation lost an entire generation of young boys to the trains," she said. "The Depression was so widespread and so devastating."

Henninger, formerly of Metamora and now living in Crossville, Tenn., retired in January after running three quilt shops in central Illinois for 17 years. But she remains a keen student of history and quilting.

"I began sewing when I was 7, starting with garments and later turning to quilting in 1997," she said. "Quilting draws women for its creativeness and sense of community, and the legacy."

Those attending Wednesday's lecture also will have an opportunity to buy chances to win the botanically themed "Mostly Morris" quilt sewn by the historical society's Heritage Quilters. This homage to the celebrated British wallpaper designer William Morris features a card trick pattern.

Raffle tickets are $1 each or six for $5, with all proceeds benefiting the McHenry County Historical Society & Museum. The drawing will be at about 3:30 p.m. The winner need not be present.

Admission to the quilt lecture is $5 for those who are not members of the Society. Members are free but donations to offset the program's costs are welcome.

For more information or to buy quilt tickets, visit www.GotHistory.org or call (815) 923-2267.

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