THIS WAY — Floyd Powe’s worn and aged quilt has basket patterns that may have directed slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad.
It was made by a slave, he says. And now he’s wondering if there are clues to the Underground Railroad embedded in it’s varied basket pattern.
Powe, 73, of Jacksonville, Fla. stopped by Newberry on the way to an Ohio family reunion this summer, toting along news of his quilt.
In the 1970s, Powe’s uncle, Oscar “O.B.” Moore of Newberry told Powe the quilt was made by his aunt who was a slave in Newberry.
Moore died in 1983, and Powe inherited the quilt.
Powe wants to donate the quilt to the Newberry County Historical and Museum Society, and thinks the quilt’s basket patterns may have mapped the Underground Railroad for slaves. He has not heard from anyone offical who could say if it has Railroad information.
Some historians say quilts leading the way along the Underground Railroad are only legends.
Others believe quilt makers wove in images to show, for example, where slaves making their way northward to freedom could get clean clothing using bow tie patterns, or if food was available using basket images.
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