Paul Stankus
asked
Sarah McCoy:
In your book, The Mapmaker's Children, an old doll plays an important role both in the 1860s and the present. What other signs, symbols, and secret codes did you uncover in your research that allowed the stations on the Underground Railroad to communicate with each other and the slaves escaping to freedom?
Sarah McCoy
Hi Paul,
Thanks for submitting this great question. I became so deeply captivated by the signs, symbols, and codes that I had to reel myself in from footnoting the entire novel! Not only am I a history nerd, but I also grew up in a sci-fi household. All thanks to my dad as my momma was having none of that Trekkie-techie business. I loved the 'alien' languages of space fiction, the high-tech gizmos of 007 stories, the secret codes of Sherlock Holmes. So when I discovered the Underground Railroad communications, I was quickly captivated. They were a significant part of THE MAPMAKER'S CHILDREN's writing.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center was a tremendous help to my research. They provided much of the code information-- symbols to colors, orientation of lines to placement on quilts. Everything had a particular meaning and message. Even their modes of being delivered varied from dolls and scratches on wooden door beams to quilts and songs. We must remember that these weren't used exclusively during the Civil War. Hardly! That was a fraction of their use. They began when the first slave was brought over from Africa. Messages were transported between divided families in code (music, art, African language, food).
Can you just imagine? Something as simple as pecan nuts being passed from a slave on one plantation to another to let the family members know that all was well or that a child was born, etc. Blows my mind. The quiet, powerful ways people fight oppressive forces. I believe Sarah Brown saw the truth in that and used her art in similar fashion.
For more information, pictures, meanings, and so forth, I highly encourage everyone to visit the Freedom Center: http://www.freedomcenter.org
Happy summer reading!
Sarah
Thanks for submitting this great question. I became so deeply captivated by the signs, symbols, and codes that I had to reel myself in from footnoting the entire novel! Not only am I a history nerd, but I also grew up in a sci-fi household. All thanks to my dad as my momma was having none of that Trekkie-techie business. I loved the 'alien' languages of space fiction, the high-tech gizmos of 007 stories, the secret codes of Sherlock Holmes. So when I discovered the Underground Railroad communications, I was quickly captivated. They were a significant part of THE MAPMAKER'S CHILDREN's writing.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center was a tremendous help to my research. They provided much of the code information-- symbols to colors, orientation of lines to placement on quilts. Everything had a particular meaning and message. Even their modes of being delivered varied from dolls and scratches on wooden door beams to quilts and songs. We must remember that these weren't used exclusively during the Civil War. Hardly! That was a fraction of their use. They began when the first slave was brought over from Africa. Messages were transported between divided families in code (music, art, African language, food).
Can you just imagine? Something as simple as pecan nuts being passed from a slave on one plantation to another to let the family members know that all was well or that a child was born, etc. Blows my mind. The quiet, powerful ways people fight oppressive forces. I believe Sarah Brown saw the truth in that and used her art in similar fashion.
For more information, pictures, meanings, and so forth, I highly encourage everyone to visit the Freedom Center: http://www.freedomcenter.org
Happy summer reading!
Sarah
More Answered Questions
Paul Stankus
asked
Sarah McCoy:
One of the most intriguing aspects of The Mapmaker's Children (and one that caused me to set the book aside and read more about it) is the long and dedicated friendship between Captain John Brown's family, and Henry David Thoreau, as indicated by the signed copy of 'Walden' that Sarah carries around. How did you discover the linkage between the two?
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