Discussion Pages

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Africans & African-American Participation
in the American Revolutionary War


Here are resources found in book, Keeper of the Fire: An Igbo Metalsmith From Awka! 
(*Special 20% Discount off for all visitors of the Blog scroll down!) 

1784 Muster Rolls of Birchtown, Canada

Muster Rolls of Birchtown, Canada list the Loyalist rolls of the American Revolutionary War participants that were relocated to Birchtown.

Patriot Agrippa Hall
Agrippa Hall was born a free child in Northampton, MA, in 1759. Hull faithfully fought alongside General Koscuiszko into the fierce battles at Eutaw Springs, South Carolina and Saratoga in New York. Hull did not leave the Army until 1783, two years after the final battle and surrender of the British at Yorktown. 

The two men had formed a true friendship and Koscuiszko invited “Grippy” to join him in Poland but Hull did not want to leave his home. He returned to Stockbridge and worked as a butler to make money to buy land for a farm.He married Jane Darby a runaway slave when he purchased his own homestead. Agrippa hired a lawyer to assist Jane and Agrippa in properly securing her liberty. He is listed as becoming the largest black landholder in Stockbridge, where he resided following the war.

His friend Koscuiszko, General (Tadeusz) Thaddeus Koscuiszko, a young Polish nobleman), would visit him whenever he came to America and officers also wrote about Agrippa in his memoirs. When Hull requested his pension he was told he needed to prove his honorable military service before he would be approved for payments. With no way to duplicate papers in that time period, he agreed to send his papers only if they would promise to return them to him, since General George Washington signed his service papers and they mean more to him than getting the pension. Hull died in 1848, at almost 89 years old. 

Thirty-seven Africans from Berkshire County, MA fought in the war for independence. Agrippa Hulls being the most famous, this portrait hangs in the Stockbridge, Massachusetts Public Library to this day.
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PATRIOT AUSTIN DABNEY

Austin Dabney was sent to war by his owner who did not want to fight to serve as a soldier in the Revolutionary war to serve in his place. Dabney was one of the few black in the South allowed to man heavy guns. Most southern blacks were prohibited from bearing arms of any kind for fear of revolts and killings of their masters. He was a member of an artillery in the Georgia Corps and fought under Colonel Elijah Clark in the battles of Cow pens in South Carolina. There the patriots killed, wounded or captured almost all of the British and Tory Soldiers. 


Dabney was said to be the only black soldier at the Battle of Kettle Creek. He was seriously wounded by a rifle ball in his hip and a soldier took him to his nearby farmhouse. Dabney was nursed back to health and never forgot the kindness of Giles Harris. Freed for fighting by his master, after the war, he went to work for Harris. 

Though it was years before his heroic service in the American Revolutionary War was recognized. In 1821, The Georgia Legislature gave him a one-hundred-twelve acre farm. He quickly formed friendships with his wealthy neighbors and became the owner of many fine horses. He received a pension for his military service and being a land holder helped. He is buried in the Harris family Cemetery (it is believed). The Pulaski Georgia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 1977, included Austin Dabney on a monument in Griffin Memorial Park.

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Patriot James Armistead Lafayette

James Armistead (1760-1832) was born in Virginia, an African enslaved to the owner whose last name he took. In 1781, when James was twenty-one years old he heard the Marquis de Lafayette, a French volunteer for the Patriots was in need of men to spy on the British. When James asked his master could he go during the siege of Richmond to volunteer, William Armistead, his owner agree.

Lafayette was born 1757, in the town of Chavaniac, to a wealthy landowning family, living in southern central France (In the province of Auvergne). Young and wanting adventure, he was commissioned as an officer at age 13 years old. He wanted to follow his family’s martial tradition. Convinced that the American Patriot’s cause in the revolutionary war was noble, he came to the New World seeking glory in it. The 19-year-old was made a major general in the Continental Army, though he initially wasn’t given a fight force to command.

James (former slave) was described as brave, smart and knew the area well. He was just what Lafayette needed since the British were offering freedom to slaves who joined their side no one would suspect James of being a Patriot spy. It was the when Armistead arrived in the British cap to offer his services as a guide and body servant in exchange for his freedom at the end of the American Revolutionary War.Three years following the end of the American Revolution Lafayette’s praise and written certificate of Armistead’s participation was sent to the Virginia General Assembly of Virginia. Armistead asked his master be paid for him and he be awarded freedom and the Assembly agreed. He was recognized a war veteran but not considered an American citizen! Because of his service, when he was in his sixties, Armistead did receive a military pension. 

Letter signed by George Washington

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Peter Salem was born in 1750, a slave in Framingham, Massachusetts who was first owned by New England Army Captain Jeremiah Belknap. Later, Salem was sold to Major Lawson Buckminster, who gave him his freedom to enlist and fight in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War on the side of the Patriots.

He fought in the battle of Concord April 19, 1775 and the battle of Lexington, Mass. and he also enlisted on April 26, in Captain Drury's company of Colonel John Nixon's 6th Massachusetts Regiment. Salem fought at Bunker Hill with Barzillai LewSalem Poor, Titus Coburn, Alexander Ames, Cato Howe, and Seymour Burr, freed blacks and many others. When Salem was fighting at Bunker Hill he became a Revolutionary War hero, when he shot and killed British Major John Pitcairn. The Patriot officer ordered a retreat but Salem refused and reloaded and fired again and kept firing. To honor him Salem’s French Charleville musket, he used in battle is now displayed at the Bunker Hill Monument in Massachusetts.

He was presented proudly by white solders to General George Washington, as the soldier who killed the commanding British officer at the Battle of Bunker Hill. It was reported that he also served bravely at the battles of Stoney Point and the Battle of Saratoga.

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Native Americans were forced on to reservations by the mid-17th century. The English immigrants had forced any remaining in the area, on to reservations located north of the York River. Freed slaves of African heritage, by working and living in close proximity, assimilated into the growing population of European colonists. Over the following decades, white indentured servant women and men; African men and women; and few Native American Indians married and created free mixed-race populations before the American RevolutionHeinegg, Paul. Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware, 1999-2005.

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IRON WORKERS - “African men with iron making skills were imported to the Chesapeake to work as blacksmiths on plantations and in the iron industry that, by the early 18th century, had begun to develop in Colonial America. Iron workers were an elite group in West and West Central Africa, (de Barrios 2000:148; Barnes and Ben-Amos 1989). In West Africa, the rise of the Edo, Fon and a series of Yoruba kingdoms between 1400 and 1700, owed their political dominance to heavily equipped armies, using a highly developed iron technology. Blacksmiths are attributed central roles in the mythical origins of numerous West Central African and West African peoples.

The first southern iron works was established in the Chesapeake. Alexander Spotswood, Lieutenant Governor Virginia erected the South’s first successful iron works around 1718. There were at least 65 iron works in the region employing as many as 4,500 slaves. By 1775, the American colonies were the world’s third largest producer of iron. Built largely on slave labor, slavery played a crucial role in the growth and development of the industry. By the 1750s, enslaved men performed most of the skilled and manual labor. The most skilled African American artisans worked independently in positions of authority like Abraham and Bill, who in the 1760s, helped manage the Snowden iron furnace in Anne Arundel (Kulikoff 1986:413). Forges and furnaces employed between thirty and fifty slaves (Lewis 1974:242–243). Principio Iron works owned slaves and livestock. When the British confiscated Principio Iron works at the end of the American Revolution, it had been in gradual decline for thirty years, nevertheless it listed 136 slaves among its property.”

http://www.nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/Chesapeake_furthRdg6.htm





Patriot Crispus Attucks

Crispus Attucks – (1723-March 5, 1770) the first martyr of the American Revolution between the American colonists and Great Britain, was a former slave named Crispus Attucks. A martyr is a person willing to give his life for the cause of freedom. Not a lot is documented of Crispus’s early life but he was the son of an African father and a “Natick”, Nantucket Indian mother. Some accounts said he was of Wampanoag and African descent. Attucks was a descendant of John Attucks, of Massachusetts who was hanged during King Philip's War. He was enslaved in his adult life and always longed to be free. Framingham had a small African community since 1716. He was known as a rope maker and a first rate trader (seller and buyer) of cattle and horses. Unable to make money to purchase his freedom and finding no other recourse Crispus finally ran away. 


BOSTON GAZETTE AND WEEKLY JOURNAL, 1750 MISSING PROPERTY
MISSING PROPERTY: A runaway slave. "A Mulatto fellow, about 27 Years of Age, named Crispus, 6 feet 2 inches high, short cur'l hair, his knees nearer together than common."  Wearing new buckskin breeches, blue yarn stockings, checked woolen shirt, and light colored bearskin coat. Whoever fhall return him, fhall receive ten pounds. And all Matters of Vessels and others, are hereby cautioned against concealing or carrying off said Servant on Penalty of Law.



The United States Treasury released "The Black Revolutionary War Patriots Silver Dollar featuring Crispus Attucks' image on the reverse side in 1998. Funds from sales of the coin were intended for a proposed Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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Patriot Salem Poor unlike many who fought he was born free in Massachusetts. Married young he lived on his farm with his wife. He had to make a decision like many others on who side should he take in the impending war. He heard talk of breaking away from England daily and finally decided he was going to side with independence! The battles were literally at the colonist door steps and when the war came to Lexington and Concord, Poor enlisted in the Patriot army. Like many other Africans he was known for a steady hand and eye, meaning he was not afraid in battle. He was not trembling and shaking or shooting with his eyes closed. 

In the battle at the Siege of Charleston Massachusetts, Poor killed Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie, an important British officer in the Battle of Bunker Hill. The Patriots were able to hold their positions until they ran out of ammo. Salem Poor was praised by his Patriot officers in correspondence to the Massachusetts General Court. 

“Poor behaved like an experienced soldier in his gallant and brave action as he fought in Captain Ames Fry’s regiment” Despite the intentions of the petition history has not recorded if Poor was rewarded by the court. He remained in the army for many years and fought in the battles of White Plains, New York and survived the harsh winter conditions at Valley Forge. In 1975, Salem Poor’s likeness appeared on a United States commemorative postage stamp.

“The author Samuel Swett, writing in 1818, reported, "Among the foremost of the [British] leaders was the gallant Maj. Pitcairn, who exultingly cried 'the day is ours,' when Salem, a black soldier, and a number of others, shot him through and he fell.... [A] contribution was made in the Army for Salem and he was presented to Washington as having slain Pitcairn" (p. 75). The artist John Trumbull's celebrated 1786 painting The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill shows a black soldier thought to be Salem, holding a flintlock musket as Pitcairn falls, and in 1968 that detail was reproduced in a U.S. postage stamp commemorating Trumbull and included in the Black Heritage Stamp Issues.”


Book of Negroes

Book of Negroes: There were 3 copies of this handwritten, Book of Negroes, Black Loyalist passengers leaving New York on British ships in 1783. It list the names of Africans, their status (free or slave), physical description, and for some, the former owner’s name and last known place of residence. One in America at the National Archives Washington, DC; one at the Public Records Office in Kew, England and one in Nova Scotia Archives in Halifax, Canada. More information on these books made by British and American inspectors. This above book’s digital information can be found at:


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Patriot Oliver Cromwell


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Patriot Prince Whipple (1750-1796), was one of the African aristocrats who sent their children worldwide for education and the narrative of Prince Whipple was one of theses. He was home in Ambou, Ghana, with his family until he was ten years old and his father sent him with a cousin to America to follow in his older brother’s footsteps of being educated in the American colonies.

Like many others Prince was promised his freedom for fighting in the Revolutionary War, but it wasn’t granted. Free men born in Africa and enslaved Africans joined together to confront the New Hampshire legislature and were finally granted their freedoms. Once free, he worked serving as a master of ceremonies and gave speeches at formal occasions and gathering. According to the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Town Records, General Whipple granted Prince Whipple the rights of a freeman on 22 Feb. 1781, Prince's wedding day. He was legally manumitted by Gen. William Whipple on 26 Feb. 1784. He married a woman named Dinah, also free in his town. They had children and continued to live in their own 2 story home (still standing as of 2012) near the Moffat mansion. Prince Whipple died leaving a widow and several children when he was only in his thirties. 125 years after the Revolutionary War had ended veterans groups from the New Hampshire area dedicated a marker to the bravery of Prince Whipple in North Cemetery.

This Georgia graveyard is the resting place for a diverse population: artisans, craftsmen, elected officials, sea captains, merchants, doctors, lawyers, and members of Provincial Councils, State and Continental Congresses. The listing of 1793, 1794 and 1798 yellow fever victims is lengthy. Over 235 men, of 672, Third Church members who served in the Revolutionary War are buried here.
For Further Reading on American Revolution 
American Revolution Website Resources:


Keeper of the Fire: An Igbo Metalsmith From Awka
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AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

Resources



NELL, William C. Colored Patriots of the American Revolution. Boston, MA: R. F. Wallcut. 1855.

Black Loyalist References:

HODGES, Graham Russell. The Black Loyalists Directory, New York, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996.

ROBERTSON, Marion. King's Bounty: A History of Early Shelburne Nova Scotia Halifax NS, Nova Scotia Museum Press, 1983.

WALKER, James W. St. G. The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone, Toronto, ON, University of Toronto Press, 1992.


The New England Historic Genealogical Society: www.americanancestors.org

KAPLAN, Sidney. The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution 1770-1800, Washington DC, New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1973.

WINKS, Robin W. The Blacks in Canada: A History (2nd Ed.), Montreal & Kingston, McGill-Queens University Press, 1997.



BURNSIDE, Madeline & Rosemarie Robotham, Spirits of the Passage: The Transatlantic Slave Trade in the Seventeenth Century, New York NY, Simon & Schuster Editions, 1997.


JOURNEYS to Freedom: Enslaved efforts to escape http://freedomcenter.org/enabling-freedom/journey-to-freedom

MACDONALD, James S., "Memoir of Governor John Parr", Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society Volume XIV, Halifax NS, Nova Scotia Printing Company, 1910, Pp. 41-78.

Francis Marion - Francis Marion Trails: http://www.francismariontrail.com/ (He had freed and slave black in his units)

MCKERROW, P.E. Edited by Frank Stanley Boyd, A Brief History of the Coloured Baptists of Nova Scotia 1783-1895, Halifax NS, Afro-Nova Scotian Enterprises, 1975.

MONTICELLO Plantation: Health & Slave Medicine 
http://www.monticello.org/library/exhibits/lucymarks/lucymarks/lucy.html

SMITH, T. Watson, "The Slave in Canada", Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society for the Years 1896-1898 Volume X, Halifax NS, Nova Scotia Printing Company, 1899.

PEOPLE WHO ASSISTED LOYALIST CANADIAN RESEARCH

Niven, Laird - Laird has been an invaluable resource, and helped supply some of the original documents for transcription. Mr. Niven also was the archaeologist who investigated the various sites in the Birchtown area.

Bloomfield, Gladstone - Mr. Bloomfield has been of great assistance in researching the military history of the Black Loyalists. His suggestions and references have helped to correct some common misconceptions, and we are greatly indebted to his assistance.

DUNNSMORE’S ETHIOPIAN REGIMENT

KAPLAN, Sidney and Kaplan, Emma N. The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolutionary. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. P. 490. 1989.

QUARLES, Benjamin. The Negro in the American Revolution. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, pg. 19. 1966.

BATTLE OF COWPENS:

HOURIHAN, William J. (Winter 1998). "Historical Perspective: The Cowpens Staff Ride: A Study in Leadership". The Army Chaplaincy. Archived from the original on 2007-06-24. Retrieved 2007-12-10.

MONCURE, Lieutenant Colonel John (1996). "The Cowpens Staff Ride and Battlefield Tour". Command and General Staff College: Combined Arms Research Library. Retrieved 2007-12-10.

MONTROSS, Lynn (April 1956). "America's Most Imitated Battle." American Heritage, Vol. 7, No. 3 (April 1956), Pp. 35-37, 100-101.


WEBB, Jonathan (2009). "Battle of Cowpens Animated Battle Map". The Art of Battle. Retrieved 2009-06-12.

WITHROW, Scott (2005). "The Battle of Cowpens". U.S. Department of the Interior: National Park Service: Cowpens National Battlefield South Carolina.

CAGNEY, James (2010). "Animated History of the Battle of Cowpens". HistoryAnimated.com. Retrieved 2012-07-01.

AGRIPPA HULL INFORMATION:

Teaching African-American Heritage in the Upper Housatonic Valley: https://mcla.digication.com/AAHT/Agrippa_Hull1

One of my Strother Patriot Revolutionary Strother family members also fought at Cowpens.

Websites on Peter Salem and other Blacks in Wars http://www.celebrateboston.com/biography/peter-salem.htm

CRISPUS ATTUCKS INFO


BOLSTER, Jeffrey W. Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.



PARR, James L. & Swope, Kevin A. Framingham: Legends and Lore. The History Press, 2009.


MANDELL, Daniel. Tribe, Race, History: Native Americans in Southern New England, 1780-1880 Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. 



MANDELL, Daniel. Behind the Frontier: Indians in Eighteenth-Century Eastern Massachusetts. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.


SILVERMAN, David J. Faith and Boundaries: Colonists, Christianity, and Community among the Wampanoag Indians of Martha's Vineyard, 1600-1871 Cambridge University Press, 2005.

USMINT.GOV, United States Mint: "Plinky's Coin of the Month February 2000".
ASANTE, Molefi Kete. 100 Greatest African-Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 2002.
NEYLAND, James. Crispus Attucks, Patriot. Holloway House. 1995.

LIBRARY of Congress Exhibit Attucks: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr046.html

PETER SALEM’S INFO



Forgotten Patriots--African-American and Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War (2008), which was published by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Peter Salem’s service was discussed in many more general reference books on African-Americans in American history, including:


APTHEKER, Herbert (Ed.) A Documentary History of the Negro People in the United States. 1962.

WOODSON, Carter G. The Negro in Our History 1922, rev. ed. 1962);

QUARLES, Benjamin and Fishel, Leslie H. Jr. The Black American. 1970.

WAKIN, Edward. Black Fighting Men in U.S. History. 1971.

AMERICAN National Biography Online: http://www.anb.org/articles/06/06-00893.html
AMERICAN Slavery and Slave Trade Records: http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/slavery-records-civil.html




 RELATED INFO WEBSITES-



ABOLITIONIST named in this book visit: www.biography.com/people/



AFRICAN Names Database - Many people do not realize that the names of the people taken were in many cases recorded. This is where your family’s oral history may be useful. If you have a name, you can check the African Names Database to see if it was included. In many African cultures the son is named after his father, or something similar, often contains part of the father’s name (My son on the right hand, my son on the hill) etc.
“Between 2008 and May 2012 Voyages offered access to an African Names Database that identified over 67,000 Africans removed from slave ships in the abolition era, including their names, age, gender, stature, and place of embarkation. While these data have been incorporated into the African-Origins site the latter does not include stature data. The African Names Database has now been made available at the website: http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/resources/slaves.faces in csv format.

AMERICAN National Biography Online: http://www.anb.org/articles/06/06-00893.html
AMERICAN Slavery and Slave Trade Records: http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/slavery-records-civil.html
ARCHAEOLOGY News Network: 

ARCHIVO Colombia – English translation from the Nat. Archives of Col: www.archivogeneral.gov.co/
ARCHDIOSESE of New Orleans: Slave and Free People of Color Baptismal Records in the Archives - http://archives.arch-no.org/sfpc.php


ART OF A CONTIENENT: www.thefreelibrary.com

This on-line catalogue is the record for posterity of the Royal Academy's exhibition of the same name held in London from October 4th, 1995 to January 21, 1996. The Africa exhibition may justifiably be called the largest exposition of African arts and antiquities yet mounted in Great Britain, with all of the exhibits figured in the book as colour plates of a very high standard of reproduction.

BEDFORD Historical Society: www.bedfordmahistory.org

BIOGRAPHY Website for Information on Historical figures named in this book: www.biography.com
BLACK History Pages: www.blackhistorypages.net
BLACK Inventors On-line Museum: blackinventor.com


BLACK Inventory: www.blackinventor.com

BLACK Past: http://www.blackpast.org/
BRITISH Museum: The. Benin: An African Kingdom:  www.britishmuseum.org/PDF/british_museum_benin_art.pdf


BRITISH Museum: Benin Plaque: the Oba with Europeans.  BBC 2012. Retrieved From:




BRITISH National Archives: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

“The duty books recorded all departures to Africa from every British port in the Atlantic world between 1698 and 1712. They were a direct result of the 1698 Act that destroyed the Royal African Company’s monopoly by allowing all British investors access to the slave trade on payment of a duty worth ten percent of the outgoing cargo. They may be found in the British National Archives, series T70, Vols. 349-358.”

CHC Library and Archives - the City of Cambridge: www2.cambridgema.gov/historic/library.html

CHESTER County Historical Society – Chester, SC: http://chesterschistory.org/
CHEROKEE Nation: www.cherokee.org

CHICKASAW Nation: www.chickasaw.net

CHINESE Slavery in America by Charles Frederick Holder: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25118876?seq=2

CHOCTAW Nation: www.choctawnation.com/

COASTAL Georgia Historical Society - Saint Simons, GA: www.saintsimonslighthouse.org/about.html

CUBAN GENEAOLOGY Historias de Familias Cubanas

If you haven't already done so, the first place to look for Cuban family trees is the 9-volume Historia de Familias Cubanas by the noted Cuban genealogist Francisco Javier de Santa Cruz y Maillen, Count of Jaruco.
For a list of the surname chapter headings of this work and information on how to get copies of the full text of the entries click the above link.

Enciclopedia Heráldica y Genealógica Hispano-Americana -The second place to look for Cuban family trees is the 88-volume Enciclopedia Heráldica y Genealógica Hispano-Americana by the Spanish genealogists Alberto and Arturo Garcia Carraffa. These cover mostly names starting with the letters A-U only, since the authors both died before completing the Encyclopedia. There are, however, some names listed that start with the letters V-Z.
An on-line interactive index to the surnames appearing in this work has been prepared by the US Library of Congress and is available by clicking on the following Index. The Index also lists names appearing in the Mogrobejo work described below and also lists various libraries in the United States that have the Carraffa Encyclopedia in their collection.
A printed index to the surname headings of the Carraffa Encyclopedia appears in the 1966 book Hispanic Surnames and Family History by Lyman D. Platt (ISBN: 0-8063-1480-X) which you can get from your local library on interlibrary loan or purchase in many genealogical book stores.
Click on the link at the head of this Section for full details on the Carraffa Encyclopedia and information on where to get copies of the actual chapter entries.

These books, by the contemporary basque genealogist and publisher Endika de Mogrobejo, continue the Carraffa Encyclopedia starting alphabetically with the surname "Urriza". To date 12 volumes have been announced, although only the first 6 volumes seem to be currently available. Click on the above link for the alphabetic range of surnames covered in each volume. The US Library of Congress on-line interactive Index to the Carraffa Encyclopedia described previously also includes the surnames appearing in the first 6 volumes of this work. The entries corresponding to the Endika de Mogrobejo work are indicated by volume numbers preceded by an "E".
These books can be obtained on interlibrary loan, purchased directly from Spain via the Internet, or purchased at the Ediciones Universal bookstore in Miami. Be warned that the books are large in size, leather bound and rather expensive.

DETROIT Historical Society: http://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/underground-railroad


DNA Testing: Family Tree DNA: www.familytreedna.com  and www.thegeneticgenealogist.com/


ERI Kingdom Igboland Nigeria: www.erikingdom.com/

ENCYCLOPEDIA Britannic: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/414840/Nigeria
GALLERY Ezakwantu: Central and Southern African Tribal Art: www.ezakwantu.com/
GIST of Freedom: www.GistofFreedom.com
GOVERNMENT of Ghana: www.ghana.gov.gh/

GULLAH Geechie Nation: www.GullahGech.com

HANDLER, Jerome and Michael Tuite (Photo images were compiled) and sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Virginia Library. www.slaveryimages.org


HISTORY of Camden County: http://historiccamdencounty.com/


HUDSON Historical Society - Hudson MA:  hudsonhistoricalsociety.org

INTERNATIONAL Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM): www.iccrom.org/
IGBO Development Assoc. of British Columbia: http://www.ndigbo.net/

IGBO language website: www.Igbo911.com
IGBO Network: www.igbonetwork.com

INTERNATIONAL Council of Museum (ICOM):
INTERNATIONAL Society of Genetic Genealogy’s (ISOGG) Success: Stories: www.isogg.org/successstories.htm
INVENTORS: www.inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bltemple
JEWISH Daily Torah Study: www.Chabad.org

JEWISH Igbo website: www.igboisrael.com/

JUDICA for Books, and holiday information: www.artscroll.com

KENTUCKY African-American Slave Database (Notable): Slave Injury and Death Reimbursement & Insurance: http://nkaa.uky.edu/subject.php?sub_id=170
LEVI and Catherine Coffin’s UGRR Station: www.waynet.org/levicoffin/

LEXINGTON Historical Society: www.lexingtonhistory.org

LIBRARY of Congress:
·          Small Picture Collection
·          American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of
·          Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera.

MURRAY, Daniel A. P.  Pamphlet Collection Rare Book and Special Collections Division, African-American Pamphlet Collection. Washington DC: Library of Congress.
MURRAY, K.C. 1940. A Bronze Bell from Onitsha Province, Nigeria Photo. Onicha, Alaigbo

MUSCOGEE (Creek) Nation: www.muscogeenation-nsn.gov

NATIONAL Libraries of Africa: http://nlsahopta.nlsa.ac.za/nla/index.html

NATIONAL Archives of Trinidad and Tobago: natt.gov.tt

NATIVE American Ancestry: http://dna-explained.com/2012/12/18/proving-native-american-ancestry-using-dna/

NAIRALAND Forum: http://www.nairaland.com/
NIGERIAN Nri Kingdom: www.nrikingdom.com
NRI Enweluana For more information: www.nrienweluana.com




OLD Colony Historical Society: www.oldcolonyhistoricalsociety.org
ORAIFITE Igbo History: http://www.oraifite.com/

RADIO Africa – www.radioafrica.com.au
“Radio Africa offers hours of tracks including field recordings from remote villages, voices of political protest, and songs from emerging Afro-pop artists and is a collaboration between Smithsonian Folkways and the National Museum of African Art.” http://africa.si.edu/wp-content/themes/NMAfA/scripts/radio_africa/index.html

SCITUATE Historical Society: scituatehistoricalsociety.org



SLAVE VOYAGES DATABASE-www.slavevoyages.org The Voyages Database also contains an African Names Database.


SPANISH Texas - Blacks in Colonial Spanish Texas: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pkb07
ST. JOSEPH Plantation – Vacherie, LA: www.stjosephplantation.com/
SCORPION Systematics Research Group in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology: www.scorpion.amnh.org/
SEMINOLE Tribe of Florida - The Official Home of the Floridawww.semtribe.com/



SEMINOLE Indian Nation: www.seminolenation-indianterritory.org/



SEMINOLE Nation of Oklahoma: www.sno-nsn.gov




SOUTH Carolina Historical Society: www.southcarolinahistoricalsociety.org













Boonesborough Historical Society-Abbeville and Anderson counties - especially Donalds, Due West, and Honea Path



Center for Heirs' Property Preservation - educational and legal services for owners of heir’s property in the Lowcountry




Chicora Foundation - archaeological and historical research, cultural resource surveys, site assessments








 Fort Sullivan Chapter - Charleston

 General Marion's Brigade Chapter - Moncks Corner


CONTACT US –  


We give copies of our original documents and photo to assist you with reports, research and educational presentation. I would love to hear your questions, comments, and opinions. 

---- Mrs. Teresa R. Kemp


On Line: 


· Blog Spot: http://UGRRQuiltCode.BlogSpot.com

· Email: trkemp@PlantationQuilts.com 

· Facebook Book Page: www.facebook.com/ugrrquiltmuseum 

· Google+: trkemp

· LinkedIn: Mrs. Teresa R. Kemp

· Twitter: @UGRRQuiltMuseum Website: www.PlantationQuilts.com


For Booksignings and trunkshows please call:


By Phone: USA By phone: Country Code 001 (404) 468-7050 


We have created unique programs for: 


· Business/Governments/Professional Associations 

· Social Clubs/Churches/At-Risk Populations 

· Corporate "Lunch and Learns"/Team Building/ Diversity 

· Libraries/Museums/Archives/Conference Centers 

· Fraternities/Sororities/School and Family Reunions 

· Colleges/Universities/Schools and Home School Associations K-12 

· Grade appropriate state requirements, hands on and interactive/ Research Centers

· Community Centers/Camps/After-School Programs/ Home School Scholars 

· Medical Associations/Health Fairs/ Community Programs/Book Clubs 

· Rites of Passage/Juneteenth Celebrations/Festivals/State Fairs

“We Have Chosen Education as a Bridge to Understanding”


Exhibits the Heal Communities!

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Book Press Release Announcement

"Keeper of the Fire: An Igbo Metalsmith From Awka"

Is Now Available - Order your copy Today!

If you were left with questions, after reading "Hidden in Plain View" by Dr.Jacqueline L. Tobin & Dr. Raymond G. Dobard, (publishers: Doubleday Publishing/Random House) the book written about Mrs. Teresa R. Kemp's family working on the Underground Railroad in America. Her ancestors sewed African textile languages, patterns and symbols into quilts used as maps and messages. 

This book has the answers. 

The 1st book done by Dr. Ozella William's family. It's a presentation of 5 generation's, 187 years of collective research. In full color, 478 pages of "Keeper of the Fire", they share internationally gathered photos of the Quilt Code patterns on African homes, art and people. 

 
Related Categories: Art Education , Quilting, World/American History, Quilting, Nigeria, Igboland,
Underground Railroad, UGRR Quilt Code, Abolitionist, Slavery, Jewish history, Metal smiths, American Revolutionary War, Civil War, International Transatlantic Slave Trade, slave ports, Benin Bronze


Order at www.plantationquilts.com or 





Amazon.com ( http://www.amazon.com/Keeper-Fire-Igbo-Metalsmith-From/dp/149925945X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414853808&sr=8-1&keywords=Teresa+R.+Kemp) www.createspace.com/4776679


Authored by Mrs. Teresa R. Kemp (Owner of Plantation Quilts Ohio & UGRR Secret Quilt Code Museum) This book accompanies the "UGRR Abolitionist -Keeper of the Fire Exhibit" 

Mrs. Teresa R. Kemp
African Facial Marks Decode the Underground Railroad Quilts with Mrs. Teresa R. Kemp Gist of Freedom Interview
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thegistoffreedom/2014/09/22/africans-facial-marks-decode-underground-railroad-quilts-w-teresa-kemp

American Civil War Stories Underground Railroad Interview
http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/underground-railroad-interview.html

Mrs. Kemp fights Human Trafficking using her families abolitionist legacy. She teaches delayed gratification and reconciliation skills to At-Risk populations.



Forewords by:

Serena M. Strother Wilson
The late Serena M. Strother Wilson (former resident of Columbus, Ohio) Historian Griot Master Quilter, Wife of the late, Dr. Howard L. Wilson (Ret. Lt. Col.) Former Deputy Safety Director City of Columbus, Ohio, Co-Owner of Plantation Quilts & the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum Art & Education History Maker's - 5 hours of video tape interviews now in the Library of Congress:


http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2014/14-045.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/us/library-of-congress-to-host-collection-of-african-american-interviews.html?_r=0

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/24/library-of-congress-history-makers/11339613/
Dr. Johnston A. K. Njoku 
Dr. Johnston A. K. Njoku, Associate Professor Folklore Studies at Western Kentucky University http://www.wku.edu/fsa/staff/johnston_njoku

  Author of "From Freedom to Freedom" (2014) Publisher -Africa World Press

Other Publications Below:

“Before the Middle Passage: Igbo Slave Journeys to Old Calabar and Bonny” 
Repercussions of the Atlantic Slave Trade: The Interior of the Bight of Biafra and the African Diaspora, edited by Carolyn Brown and Paul Lovejoy. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press (2011) 57-69.

Amamihe: The Basis of Igbo Culture and Character Formation. Goldline and Jacobs Publishers, NJ, Canada, and Owerri, 2010.

ENYI BIAFRA: Regimental Drill, Duty Songs, and Cadences from Biafra. Goldline and Jacobs Publishers, NJ and Owerri, 2009.

“The Atlantic Slave Trade, Colonialism, Gender, and Class Transformations in the Bight of Biafra Hinterland” in Olaudah Equano and the World. Edited by Chima Korieh. Africa World Press, (2009), pp. 203-217.

“Civil Society Practices among the Igbo People of Nigeria,” in Comparative Perspective of Civil Society, edited by Robert Dibie. Lexington Books 2008, pp. 209-223

Oral tradition and the material culture of the Atlantic slave trade as historical source: evidence from the Bight of Biafra hinterland.

In The Aftermath of Slavery: Transitions and Transformations in Southeastern Nigeria. Edited by Chima J. Korieh and Femi J. Kolapo. Trenton, NJ: African World Press, Inc. 2007, pp. 136-157.

Jamel K. Thomas Joyce
 Illustrated by Jamel K. Thomas-Joyce
9 year old Columbus, Ohio resident, Jamel's Louise Nevel Box Sculpture is currently on exhibition in the All District Art Show at Cassingham High School Complex in Bexley, Ohio until November 7th, 2014. It is his 4th year to be selected for the All- District Shows. 

For more information, please call Mrs. Teresa Kemp at 
USA 001(404) 468-7050 or email: trkemp@PlantationQuilts.com


"We Use Education as a Bridge to Understanding"

Osinachi (Means God has Returned a Gift)
Mrs. Teresa R. Kemp, Plantation Quilts
Phone: USA 001 (404) 468-7050 
E-mail: trkemp@PlantationQuilts.com

Website: www.PlantationQuilts.com
Twitter: @UGRRQuiltMuseum
Blog: http://ugrrquiltcode.blogspot.com

Monday, October 6, 2014

"African Facial Marks Decode Quilts"

Gist of Freedom Interview 

"African Facial Marks Decode Quilts"  

with Mrs. Teresa R. Kemp 

 Interview by (@RoyPaulReports)  September 21, 2014 

Thank you for the great response to the interview. I enjoyed hearing from all of you! 

If you missed the interview Click here to listen

Join The Gist of Freedom at www.BlackHistoryBLOG.com and at WWW.BlackHistoryUniversity.com
Every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 8pm ET  @GISTofFREEDOM
I loved visiting their websites and if you are a history buff it is a must see. (All the links are in orange)

As promised here are the links to the sites I mentioned in the radio interview:

This database contains information and details on more than 35,000 voyages of ships that carried people enslaved as cargo. It shows the details of 12 million Africans forcefully taken from their homes and sold worldwide for their unique knowledge and skills."

"
It offers researchers, students and the general public a chance to rediscover the 
reality of one of the largest forced movements of peoples in world history."

I used this database in my research & to write
"Keeper of the Fire: An Igbo Metalsmith from Awka"
 it's a primary source that answers the question
 "How many people knew the UGRR Quilt Codes?"


 It is as African textile language that has come to be known as the UGRR Quilt Code since the book "Hidden In Plain View" was written. Often I have heard people say that their ancestors African names are lost forever. 

Well maybe but maybe not. If you can match the slave auction records (still in existence with the plantations ledgers of transactions and purchases or bills of sale. It is now conceivable that you might find their African names referenced on the Freedman's Bureau Records or Military Service Records or US Census Records.  I did not say it would be easy but it might be possible. 

I also have escaped slave advertisements with an African name and city. The descendants of village with taken people with a DNA match might be able to document the name of their taken family member.

National Archives has information on many topics and have the Veteran's Military Service Records are also one of the links you can visit at the national archives. Each one has many of the same records and each have different records too.

THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE PAGE OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

You can do searches on people, places and events on-line or in person at their regional locations. Freedman's Bureau has records from 1865-1872 that include state level, local field location records and marriage records. They have image (photos) bank and land records also. You can also visit their On-line exhibits and they have Teacher Resources on every page.

"In the years following the Civil War, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen's Bureau) provided assistance to tens of thousands of former slaves and impoverished whites in the Southern States and the District of Columbia. The war had liberated nearly four million slaves and destroyed the region's cities, towns, and plantation-based economy. It left former slaves and many whites dislocated from their homes, facing starvation, and owning only the clothes they wore. The challenge of establishing a new social order, founded on freedom and racial equality, was enormous"

I use Family Search.org to enter my families genealogy. It is one of the largest databases in the world. It is free and all you need is an email address. I did not want over 300 members of my family to have to pay to access their information! If you do not have anyone to do it for you and is not a documented by previous generations, you start it off! Don't wait. Simply enter all you know and ask older neighbors and family members.

St. Luke's AME Zion Church
 
2014 Exhibit in Lone Star, SC

In 2004, the Mormon Church of the Latter Day Saints did my mother's family history as a gift. It confirmed our oral history and gave us the link that was missing to get copies of probated wills, warrants, 4 appraisals that included the names of Peter and Eliza Farrow, Sr.



If you need assistance in starting there are many Family Search Center's that you can visit to learn to use the system or get you documenting you family line started. Find a Center  

If you are adopted don't fret. We have had some success with getting birth records that have been archived depending on your age. 



David R. Strother
My maternal great grandfather


This database has over 70 million military records digitized and non military related records also. There are original treaties too! 

For the military and non-military records of those in my family who served and our Native American Dawes trials records, I used Fold3.org to collect the City Directory's from towns where my family members lived in the 1940's. First, gather all your questions and names and then log on for the free trail. It is important to stay focus when the data bases are so big. You can get lost in searches finding and reading through centuries of history. (There is a charge but they also offer a free trail membership.) 

Fold3 is one of the places I found over 1,000 records on my 160 relatives that participated on the Confederate side of the Civil War  (CSA or Confederate States of America) and 58 Strother's on the Union side. I use the computers at the National Archives in Marrow.

1840 US Census Record
of David R. Strother

A few of the archives I use consistently are the Atlanta Fulton County Public Library downtown (AFPLS) location, Auburn Avenue African-American  Research Center also in Atlanta, GA, the National UGRR Freedom Center in Cincinnati, OH. I visit both the National Archive in Marrow, GA and the GA State Archives which is next door. Every state has an archive.  The presidential libraries also that are great for research too. 

We've searched in many local archives and have used the local libraries to do genealogy research.  During the 2006 Strother Farrow McDaniel visited family reunion  we took a van load of people from Atlanta, GA and visited the family churches, cemeteries, the archive and library in the Edgefield , SC area. 


My 1st Cousin Ophelia DeVore Mitchell's records are in Emory University's MARBL Research Center located in Atlanta, GA. They have 100 boxes of her photos, booklets, letters from her cosmetic line, the charm school and modeling agency. They have many rare photos, books and documents you can research while there. Many are being put online. They have permanent and temporary exhibits also. I saw the SCLC exhibit when I was last there. Here is a link to Ophelia's History Maker's Interview Page


Library of Congress will hold Ophelia's and my late Mother's interview and is another Database that i have used for over 15 years to do research. I can not tell you how proud that now I have 3 family members information there in my lifetime. I use them for photos, narratives, veterans history and many many more searches. They have a great variety of on-line searchable databases.

The Atlanta History Center's Kenan Research Center is the official archive for the Strother Family, not knowing that I started a file at the Auburn Avenue Research Museum when I developed cancer in 2007. The Atlanta History Center has over 15 c. feet of diaries, bibles, photos and documents from over 3 centuries of Strother family. I still have the UGRR Secret Quilt Museum's archive that I am working on digitizing. I will be adding documents to the Plantation Quilts Research Place Page . 

2014 Covina CA Library
UGRR Secret of the Quilts Exhibit
In the book, Keeper of the Fire I list an international archives, museums, libraries that we have used either on-line and in person. Many historic sites have archives and libraries that can be helpful. I use the online state archives for every person in our family. 




When I do traveling exhibits I carry over 2,000 documents and photos with me to add to the displays and answer questions patrons might ask.

I enjoy answering questions and learning from the guest 
of the exhibits and those who call or write it. Hope to hear from you too. Please leave comments or questions. 


**********************

UGRR Quilt Code Exhibits are presentations that HEAL communities! 

Now scheduling for 2104-2017 To schedule book signing or an exhibit 

Plantation Quilt's Contact Info:

Mrs. Teresa R Kemp's Phone: (404) 468-7050

Email: trkemp@PlantationQuilts.com

Like Us on Facebook: UGRR Secret Quilt Code Museum

Follow us on Twitter: @UGRRQuiltMuseum

Plantation Quilt's Website: www.PlantationQuilts.com

Blog: https://UGRRQuiltCode.blogspot.com





We Have Chosen Education as a Bridge to Understanding!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

JAMEL - 9 Year Old Artist Illustrates Book


Keeper of the Fire: 
An Igbo Metalsmith from Awka

Jamel illustrates the book by 5 previous generations of his family. 



Jamel is the illustrator of the "Keeper of the Fire: An Igbo Metal Smith from Awka" book coming out soon. It's a research resource done by 5 generations of his family into the African cultural heritage of his abolitionist ancestors, Rev. Peter & Eliza Farrow Sr.  enslave in Glynn Cty., GA. The Farrows were freed from the Dover Hall Plantation & continued work on American UGRR by 1858 using "coded maps & messages sewing into quilts" said Mrs Kemp. 


In Ohio's old community Jamel has a great time doing his art. You might find him sitting at a little cafe after school, doing his drawing. Jamel's in 4th grade at the community elementary school. His new Art Specialist this past year, wrote Jamel a letter over the summer to inform & congratulate him on selection of his "Louis Nevelson Box Sculpture's" inclusion in the All-District Art Show. He has a new instructor since last school year. His former instructor since Kindergarten, Ms. Liefeld retired last year. 

Jamel said his old art instructor, Mrs. Liefeld, got his art to the high school's art shows every year and he never knew how, "It got there."  My first art show was in kindergarten says this seasoned artist. This is a well rounded boy who says he was inspired to do art his whole life. He played baseball ran track and is now a lineman on the Bexley Lion's Football Team.

He hails from a close knit extended family. His great grandparents showed Jamel the Sankofa Bird and talked with him about their family's Igbo African culture and American Underground Railroad (UGRR) legacy. "Memories Pieced Together Quilt Exhibit" that honored his late great grandmother at the M. L.K King Arts Complex March-April 2013.


He is also the great grandson of the late Dr. Howard Wilson, former Deputy Safety Director City of Columbus (Columbus, Ohio). His grandfather taught him to play the piano and gave him swimming lessons several times a week until his passing June 1, 2013. 






His late great grandmother Serena Strother Wilson. She was honored by a Presidential Proclamation at her 365 Harmony Program and documentary viewing last year. Serena was Ohio educator for 40 years and an internationally acclaimed Art History Maker. She was an author and loved quilting. She was nominated and recieved the honor of being selected as a An Art & Education History Marker. Forturnately she did 5 hours hours of video taped interviews in 2004. They have now been added to the Library of Congress with the other History Maker's Interview Collection.  

Mrs. Teresa R. Kemp

He attended his grandmother, Teresa R. Kemp's exhibit at the UGRR Secret Quilt Code Museum exhibit location formerly in Underground Atlanta with his mother (In Atlanta, Georgia 2005-2007). She visits me monthly and we go to libraries, galleries and exhibits after-school in Columbus, Ohio Jamel commented. He helps her with her quilting designs and the Keeper of the Fire Exhibit Arts & Craft Exhibit Projects.

Jamel's mother Tanisha is into fashion and has cultivated his love of design since he was an infant. She attended and received a BS in Human Ecology graduate of the Ohio State University and has a lot to do with development of his talents. She is his number 1 fan and patron for his art! His room looks like a art studio and a art gallery all in one. He loves pipe cleaners and knows all the names and habitats of every dinosaurs, she added.

We have been to Columbus Arts Council's downtown Riffe Gallery and  recently to the Capital University's Schumacher Gallery Jamel added. His grandmother being born in Germany wanted Jamel to see the Renaissance art techniques whose eyes will follow you. They both had a good time testing to see if they would follow him around the room. 
Jamel K. Thomas-Joyce with a statue
of a whippet at the Capital University's
Schumacher Gallery 9-.24-2014.


He recognized the carved Narwhal whale when we were at the Schumacher Gallery last week. We were looking at the Inuit exhibit and the gallery staff and I were surprised he knew the name and where the animal lived. Jamel told us some people think they are only a mythical creature.

His favorite piece was the whippet sculpture Jamel said "because art about them is so scarce".  They also took a field trip to area pawn shops because Jamel wanted to see taxidermy. Jamel was excited to see the life-like preservation of the animals. He wants a nature preserve and eventually a zoo on family lands in the south.

Jamel is the 7th generation quilter of the Farrow-McDaniel families! I am so excited that he took an interest and attended the Quilter for Christ Quilt Guild meeting with me this summer."This summer, he attended the Quilter's for Christ Quilt Guild with me and helped me work on one of the sampler quilts unfinished by my late mother and I, said his grandmother, Mrs. Teresa Kemp."

Jamel working on UGRR Sampler Quilt

Ms. Kemp explained. Many of the men in our family sew and my father, Dr. Howard L.Wilson often added the tubes to hang the quilts with at an exhibit last spring also. 


I was surprised to see him sewing in January 2012, when I arrived from Atlanta, GA to travel with them to Concord College, in Athens, West Virginia. He said my mother was not feeling well so he was making a few last minute repairs and fixes. I grabbed a needle and tread to finish getting ready.

Jamel cutting out fabric for his secret design
at the Quilter for Christ Quilt Guild meeting
He designed and made this snake stuffed animal to go on the floor at the door of his room also. They can also be used to stop drafts under doors to the outside. His art is expressed in many different mediums sketches, painting, sculpture, cartoons and more.

Jamel Joyce finishing stitching his snake.
stuffed animal at QFC guild meeting.

His finished "Sankofa Bird - Look back and Learn Your History" is one of 8 of his works in the book. Here are photos of him in the sketching process below.  



Jamel's artwork, titled "Louis Nevelson Box Sculpture" was selected to be in the fall All-District Art Exhibition opening October 7th, to November 7th, 2014 in the Fine Arts Wing of the Cassingham School Complex, Bexley, Ohio USA. This is Jamel's 4th year having one of his pieces selected to be in the All District Art Exhibition in Ohio (USA).

************************************************

UGRR Quilt Code Exhibits are presentations that HEAL communities! 

Now scheduling for 2104-2017 To schedule book signing or an exhibit 

Plantation Quilts Contact Info:

Mrs. Teresa R Kemp's Phone: (404) 468-7050

Like Us on Facebook: UGRR Secret Quilt Code Museum

Follow us on Twitter: @UGRRQuiltMuseum

Plantation Quilt's Website: www.PlantationQuilts.com

Blog: https://UGRRQuiltCode.blogspot.com

We use education as a bridge for understanding"

I Am Still A Bridge Builder!