Learn how pre-Civil War quilts served as secret maps to freedom

The Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva will host a special presentation on the secret messages sewn into pre-Civil War era quilts that pointed the way to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

Presented by Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Connie Martin, “Pre-Civil War Quilts: Secret Codes to Freedom on the Underground Railroad” will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 21, at the church’s historic building, 102 S. Second St. in downtown Geneva. It is free and open to the public.

Martin is a sixth-generation descendant of captured and enslaved Africans, and has had stories passed down to her as part of her family history.

In her presentation, she will share some of these stories as well as the history of the Underground Railroad and the abolitionists who changed history. Her multimedia presentation includes an exhibition of family handmade quilt replicas, whose hidden messages were used as secret codes on the Underground Railroad.

“I was so enthralled by her visuals and stories that I can hardly wait to experience the presentation again,” said church member Sherri Casterline, who attended Martin’s presentation a few months ago. “I was especially intrigued by her map of the Underground Railroad used by freedom-seekers navigating through Illinois. The fact that her stories are based upon her own family’s experience makes her presentation extremely powerful.”

Founded in 1842, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva is the oldest church in town, part of a centuries-old liberal religious tradition that values reason and free thought over dogma and creed. The church is a unique religious voice in the community, offering worship services and religious education programs that draw on diverse spiritual traditions, as well as outreach initiatives that advance social justice causes locally and around the world. Learn more at uusg.org.