Juneteenth, which commemorates June 19, 1865 — the day the last enslaved people in Texas were freed — was observed this week. But the WorldBeat Cultural Center in Balboa Park is continuing the celebration on Saturday with two special events: a Harriet Tubman bird walk and the "Threads of Freedom" quilting program.
'Threads of Freedom'
Worldbeat Cultural Center founder and executive director Makeda "Dread" Cheatom launched the "Threads of Freedom" program last Juneteenth as a way to explore the art and history of quilting.
"We had tons of sewing machines and kids learning this — so much fun," Cheatom said. "And then we were so blessed with Kim coming and teaching the kids, too."
Kim Ballentine Lane, a local quilter, is now the director of "Threads of Freedom."
"Last year, 'Threads of Freedom' had a community event. I volunteered but also helped with the creation of the community quilt," Lane said. "Each person, we were asking them to create whatever was on their heart or on their mind. It was a five-and-a-half-inch square of fabric with fabric pens and permanent markers. And that was the beginning of 'Threads of Freedom.'"
That quilt will be revealed this weekend as part of this year’s exhibit. Lane, clearly passionate about the craft, showcased the quilts that will be on display.
"You can see the variations of colors because quilts were made from scraps. African Americans made quilts from cotton sacks, flour sacs, old clothes," she said, pointing to a more than 50-year-old quilt Cheatom brought in. "This is also hand-stitched. That is how my maternal grandmother and those before her made the quilts."
"Threads of Freedom" aims to highlight the connections between the past and present.
"Many of us saw our grandmothers or great-grandmothers making the quilts — or making sure we were wrapped in a quilt," Lane said. "We felt so special and loved because this is something from their home."
That's why she encouraged Cheatom to share her family heirloom quilt.
"She said, 'Bring that quilt out.' But it's all tattered," Cheatom shared. "But it tells a story, and it makes me proud. They're our roads and threads of freedom. So we want everybody to come out, check this out and learn how to make quilts again."
Quilt codes and the Underground Railroad
Lane's quilts are rich with symbolism, especially one she made that features quilt block designs inspired by stories of the Underground Railroad.
"This is an Underground Railroad sampler quilt," Lane said, referencing the design. "I took these patterns from Eleanor Burns and Sue Bouchard. They have a book called the 'Underground Railroad Sampler Quilt.'"
She refers to the patterned squares as symbolic codes that some believe were used to help people escape slavery in the early to mid-1800s.
"It was taking a journey from slavery to freedom, and in taking that journey, quilt blocks were the road map," Lane explained. "The signs and symbols behind the quilt blocks were like a map. And we're really trying to highlight the Underground Railroad."
Her quilt includes:
- Wagon Wheel - a sign to pack for travel by wagon
- Bear’s Paw - follow a mountain trail, out of view
- Bowtie - dress in disguise, often as someone of higher status
"It was an educational piece. This is a history book," Lane added, "You can break it down by the color, you could break it down by the fabric, you could break it by the design."
A disputed theory
While Lane and the "Threads of Freedom" exhibit deeply embrace these ideas, not all scholars agree that quilt codes were ever used as a means of secret communication along the Underground Railroad.
The quilt code theory originated in the 1999 book called "Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad," based on a single oral account passed down through generations.
"When it was published, it created this frenzy — which, in some way, was good because it got folks looking at quilts made by Black folk," said Tracy Vaughn-Manley, an avid quilter and assistant professor in the Department of Black Studies at Northwestern University.
"On its surface, it's quite a captivating story that there were these ways in which those who were attempting to escape enslavement had these codes, this unspoken thing, that were leading them to freedom, that were leading them to safe houses," Vaughn-Manley said. "It's a real feel-good, triumphant story. I can completely understand the allure of the lore."
Marsha MacDowell, a professor of art at Michigan State University and curator of folk arts at its museum, directs the Quilt Index — a digital repository of quilt stories. She conceded that the single story in the book may be authentic, but the broader practice lacks evidence.
"I would have liked to have known more the context of when she told that story and why she told it, in this instance, to a white customer who was at her booth in a marketplace in Charleston," MacDowell said. "This goes to authenticity of sources. And yes, she was an authentic source for that story, but you can't jump to the conclusion that the story was fact."
Evidence still missing
Vaughn-Manley emphasized that respected historians have found no concrete evidence of these codes being used on a wide scale.
"I'm not going to fully assert that it is not true," she said. "But up until this point, major historians who have devoted their life's work to studying every aspect of enslaved life in America can find no evidence."
Some argue that enslaved people may have deliberately kept quiet about such codes, both out of fear of retaliation and because secrecy was essential. In today's climate, where history is being scrubbed from government websites and where there's greater awareness of who gets to write the historical record, that possibility continues to resonate.
But Vaughn-Manley offers a clear response: "Yes, that would make sense during Antebellum times. However, there was no mention of quilts being used on the Underground Railroad after Emancipation. What was at risk then? No mention of quilt codes during Reconstruction."
She also pointed out that quilt codes were never mentioned in any of the 2,300 Works Progress Administration (WPA) interviews with formerly enslaved people conducted during the 1930s as part of the WPA's Slave Narratives oral history project.
She also raised questions about access to materials: "Did they have the luxury of the textiles to make these intricate designs? No. I can't underscore enough how expensive textiles were. Textiles were not cheap. To be able to have a textile to use for a particular design, to have enough for the background — the economics of it don't support it either."
Why the story persists
Yet the story continues to circulate. Earlier this week, NPR ran a new piece about Underground Railroad quilts, quoting Vaughn-Manley from a 2024 interview.
When asked to respond to the renewed attention, she said: "The story not only endures, but becomes more and more embellished with each passing Black History Month and Juneteenth."
Still, it is easy to understand why the story resonates.
"If you are a product of the legacy of slavery — and we all are — but I'm talking about if you're African American, if you had African American ancestors who were enslaved, that's a tough history to hold on to," Vaughn-Manley said. "But for those who have ancestors who directly suffered at that time, that generations of their families suffered in unmentionable, unthinkable ways — to say that someone had a quilt out that lent to their potential escape from this, or that there was some agency involved ... if you have to look back at that time, to be able to do so under this mythology of quilts being used to liberate people, there's a heroism in that."
Modern quilts inspired by this mythology may still carry cultural value.
"I think today, you can look at these quilts and say, 'Hey, these quilts provide a tool to examine African American history,'" MacDowell said. "They provide a tool to examine quilt history. They provide a tool to think about how people are creative in the face of horrendous situations. I think they still have power. It's just that the original story upon which it was predicated, I would not be the person to say that it was a quiltmaking activity that happened across the country at that time."
Vaughn-Manley offered a final reflection: "You take bits and pieces that are odd, don't fit together, that are different colors, patterns. You put them all together and you have this beautiful thing. I think that that is a way to use quilting to talk about America."
A continuing mission
"Threads of Freedom" is just one part of the WorldBeat Cultural Center’s Juneteenth events — and just one piece of its broader mission to honor Black and African cultures all year.
"This is our history. It's our civil rights," Cheatom said. "We all got to be a part of keeping our history, because it is being erased — and it's ridiculous.
Saturday's Program: 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Guided birdwatching using the Merlin Bird ID app
- Stories about the barred owl and other birds as Underground Railroad symbols
- Augmented reality freedom trail featuring Harriet Tubman, John Horse and more
- History of quilt codes used as secret messages
- Cultural drumming, a Juneteenth Freedom Plate,and bird-friendly seed giveaways
