Connie Martin Presents: Pre-Civil War Quilts: Secret Codes to Freedom on the Underground Railroad
Tuesday, Oct. 6 2026 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
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Join Connie Martin as she tells the stories passed down to her great-grandmother, Lizzie, of how her family survived the antebellum period through trials and tribulations, and how they used quilts that contained hidden codes and secret messages to assist abolitionists, white and Black, in guiding enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad to Canada. During this presentation, Martin shares eighteen different quilt patterns in replica quilts and refers to a book her mother, Dr. Clarice Boswell, wrote about their family called Lizzie’s Story: A Slave Family’s Journey to Freedom. Martin tells the history of the Underground Railroad, safe routes, and shares the history of key abolitionists that have been passed down to her, a sixth-generation descendant of captured enslaved Africans forced into slavery in America. Connie Martin earned a Bachelor of Arts from Illinois State University and a Master of Arts degree from Aurora University. A retired middle school language arts teacher of thirty-two years, she honored Black History every February by teaching African American famous firsts and honoring those individuals who contributed to improving life for all people. Martin has been on the roster of the Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Speakers Council since 2021. Please call 1-800-613-3163 to register for this program.
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