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Every ethnic group had their own special quilting traditions. African Americans were no exception. The early slaves frequently remembered art forms from their native lands and incorporated this heritage into their quilts. Slaves would use scraps saved from garments they had made for their masters and scraps from their own clothes which had worn out. There are many fine examples of quilts made by African American slaves still in existence.

Historians theorize that quilts may have served as symbols in the Underground Railroad. Prior to the Civil War, ex-slaves and white abolitionists would help escaping slaves on the route to the north and safety, through a series of hidden resting spots on the way. Members of the Underground Railroad had to use the utmost secrecy to keep themselves and the escaping slaves safe. It is theorized that certain symbols on quilts were used as signs to show the escapees where to safely stop and rest. The quilt symbols would be known only to the Railroad workers and the people they were assisting; a quilt hung on the side of a barn or on clothesline, allegedly to dry, would have been a symbol that this was a safe haven. So far historians have not been able to document this theory with historical evidence, but it is fascinating.

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