Jacqueline L. Tobin

Raymond G. Dobard

A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad

Hidden in Plain View

A compelling history of the Underground Railroad brings together a series of portraits of the men and women who established the escape organization for runaway slaves, as well as the people who traveled it to find new lives in Canada, following the dangerous journeys of fugitive former slaves to Detroit and on to safety at African-American settlements north of the border. 40,000 first printing.

The Last Tracks of the Underground Railroad

From Midnight to Dawn

Pamela K. Metz

An exploration of the elusive nature of learning and teaching.This adaptation of the Tao discusses the various phases of intellectual growth, the roles of the student and mentor, and how to express, receive, and consider knowledge. If you have ever taught or been taught something that affected your life, this book will unlock the magic in that meaningful process.

Oppimisen Tao

The fascinating story of a friendship, a lost tradition, and an incredible discovery, revealing how enslaved men and women made encoded quilts and then used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad. In Hidden in Plain View, historian Jacqueline Tobin and scholar Raymond Dobard offer the first proof that certain quilt patterns, including a prominent one called the Charleston Code, were, in fact, essential tools for escape along the Underground Railroad. In 1993, historian Jacqueline Tobin met African American quilter Ozella Williams amid piles of beautiful handmade quilts in the Old Market Building of Charleston, South Carolina. With the admonition to "write this down," Williams began to describe how slaves made coded quilts and used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad. But just as quickly as she started, Williams stopped, informing Tobin that she would learn the rest when she was "ready." During the three years it took for Williams's narrative to unfold—and as the friendship and trust between the two women grew—Tobin enlisted Raymond Dobard, Ph.D., an art history professor and well-known African American quilter, to help unravel the mystery. Part adventure and part history, Hidden in Plain View traces the origin of the Charleston Code from Africa to the Carolinas, from the low-country island Gullah peoples to free blacks living in the cities of the North, and shows how three people from completely different backgrounds pieced together one amazing American story. With a new afterword. Illlustrations and photographs throughout, including a full-color photo insert.

For centuries women have remained quiet, suppressed by society. Yet in their silence a singing can be heard, celebrating their truths. In The Tao of Women, female voices speak out. Finally, the wisdom of Taoist philosophy is linked with the deep and mysterious wisdom of women. The Tao of Women captures and presents the power and wisdom generated by centuries of women's lives with the hope that this wisdom will not be lost. These brief and poignant meditations amplify the voices of our grandmothers and their mothers before them, they illuminate the connections over time and space and culture, allowing us to understand the women who came before and the daughters who will follow. In 1950, a secret language was discovered near Hunan Province, China. It was not until 1982 that anyone collected and translated this secret "women's script." Known as Nu Shu, this ancient language was developed and used by women to communicate with each other when their society would not allow them to learn to read and write. For the first time in America, 81 original Nu Shu illustrations and their translations can be seen in The Tao of Women.

The Tao of Women

From Midnight to Dawn presents compelling portraits of the men and women who established the Underground Railroad and traveled it to find new lives in Canada. Evoking the turmoil and controversies of the time, Tobin illuminates the historic events that forever connected American and Canadian history by giving us the true stories behind well-known figures such as Harriet Tubman and John Brown. She also profiles lesser-known but equally heroic figures such as Mary Ann Shadd, who became the first black female newspaper editor in North America, and Osborne Perry Anderson, the only black survivor of the fighting at Harpers Ferry. An extraordinary examination of a part of American history, From Midnight to Dawn will captivate readers with its tales of hope, courage, and a people’s determination to live equally under the law.

Jacqueline L. Tobin

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