The Legacies of Hope Told through the Tradition of Quilt Making, Freedom Trails: 2 Legacies of Hope

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East St. Louis Race Riot Memorial
July 1-2, 2005
July 1-2, 2005; East St. Louis and St. Louis communities come together to lay to rest the ancestors that suffered the 1917 East St. Louis Race Riots.

Endangered Underground Railroad Sites
The Illinois preservation Agency estimates some five hundred properties in Illinois are associated with the Underground railroad..many are in poor condition.

Governor Touts Tourism
Gov. Blagojevish brings opportunity Returns to Southwestern Illinois. It consists of 5 primary goals to address economic and workforce development.

The Legacies of Hope Told through the Tradition of Quilt Making
African American history is American history. We are presenting and celebrating this heritage as a thread in the fabric, a patch in a wonderful quilt of overlapping heritages. For this reason, in spite of the intellectual controversy regarding the authenticity of the Quilt Codes espoused in the book, “Hidden in Plain View”, we’ve chosen to employ quilt patterns in instructional, marketing, product development efforts and to navigate this website.

As the symbols are used to explore this site, we hope you will come to understand as we have that Illinois has been a gateway for escape, emancipation and empowerment. Come Enjoy Illinois and its rich African American heritage and Freedom Trails as we rediscover it. This history and heritage continues to unfold in various states of development. It’s right here. Right now.

PATTERNS FROM THE FREEDOM TRAILS QUILT:

		Slavery In Illinois In 1720, Pierre Duque, commandant at Kaskaskia, wrote from the 17-year – old town,” a hundred Negroes would be marvelous for this settlement.” This is the first mention of using African slaves in the Illinois country (Eckberg, 145) and so that begins the history of African American slavery in Illinois.
		Resisting Slavery Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape, at first to maroon communities in remote or rugged terrain on the edge of settled areas. Their acts of self-emancipation made them "fugitives" according to the laws of the times, though in retrospect "freedom seeker" seems a more accurate description
		The Underground Railroad in Illinois Illinois became a free state in the Union in 1818, neighboring the slave holding states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri. Two major auctioning blocks were in Louisiana and St. Louis, Missouri. The Mississippi River shorelines were fertile ground for slaves seeking escape to freedom. Ohio, Indiana and Illinois reigned as having the most active lines that delivered fugitives from slavery to free destination sites.
		Abolitionists In Illinois Both Black and White conductors and Stationmasters ran the lines of the UGRR in Illinois. From African American George Burroughs in Cairo who spirited away passengers on the Illinois Central Rail Road to security man, Allen Pinkerton in Chicago, the movement was adequately manned in this state.
		The Path Less Traveled The UGRR by its very nature had to be secretive and evasive. One best safeguard lay in complex routes, made by several lines radiating from one center or branch connections between routes, by paths that zigzagged from station to station." Illinois' four to six main routes and the sites on them, followed this pattern.
		The Civil War Many Illinoisans (250,000 in all) served in the civil war, including African Americans. Consultant Bennie McRae, reports that only one all black regiment was organized in the state, Quincy, Illinois. It was organized April 24th, 1864. *The 29th participated in the Richmond/Petersburg Campaign, and was at the Appomattox on April 9, 1865 when Lee surrendered.
		The Migration In the early 1900's hundreds of black families migrated to the Chicago area from the deep South, lured by the prospect of jobs and new opportunity. Still Under Construction.
		The Civil Rights Movement The social justice movement launched to validate and protect the rights of African-Americans began nearly as soon as slavery began and continues until now. Still Under Construction.
		Meaning of Freedom Trails Logo Short explanation: We must all strive together to keep the light of hope burning, the pathways to freedom should be in good hands, our collective hands, no matter how tough it has been to navigate our way to where we are now..what course we may take to keep the USA the home of the brave, land of the free. Read below for more.