Pre-Civil War quilts presentation March 12 in Somonauk

SOMONAUK – The Friends of the Somonauk Library will partner with the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau to host a presentation titled “Pre-Civil War Quilts: Secret Codes to Freedom on the Underground Railroad.”

The presentation will be at 6:30 p.m. March 12 at the library, 700 E. LaSalle St.

Attendees can learn about how quilt-making guided runaway slaves though the Underground Railroad. The presentation will be led by retired teacher, veteran fitness instructor and Road Scholar Connie Martin.

”Individual quilts would include specific [patterns] that would indicate direction to travel, farms to avoid, etc. The codes were quite ingenious and in plain sight,” Friends of the Somonauk Library Vice President Shel DeYoung Dunn said in a news release.

For information, visit somonauklibrary.org or email atouchofpunk@gmail.com.