Arizona Humanities Presents: Coded Messages and Songs of the Underground Railroad

Dr. Tamika Sanders explores the hidden codes, songs, and stories of the Underground Railroad, celebrating the ingenuity and resilience that helped many enslaved people escape to freedom.

Communication and secrecy were key to the successful operation of the Underground Railroad. Safety was more important than quickness. Both fugitive slaves and members of the Underground Railroad learned to code and decode hidden messages, and to disguise signs to avoid capture. There were code names for towns on the routes and code numbers for towns. There were signs and songs. A quilt hanging on a clothesline with a house and a smoking chimney among its designs indicated a safe house. The song, “Follow the Drinking Gourd” served as directions to Canada. Using storytelling, activities and songs, Dr. Sanders depicts the ingenuity and resiliency of those who used the Underground Railroad to help over 100,000 slaves escape to freedom between 1810 and 1850.

This program is made possible by Arizona Humanities.