DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/VRN0-1H39
Defense Date
2009
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
Theatre
First Advisor
Barry Bell
Second Advisor
Faye Prichard
Third Advisor
Tawnya Pettiford Wates
Abstract
The Freedom Quilt is a play that I have written and adapted from Deborah Hokinson’s book, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. This story explores the historic and dramatic implications in the idea of coded quilts as a form of communication among African American slaves; specifically as coded maps to freedom. There is an ongoing scholarly debate challenging the existence of these quilts, let alone that they could have been used in such a complex manner. The Freedom Quilt however, is one girl’s unique and individual story, and does not in any way suggest that maps, encoded in quilts were used by a large number of escaping slaves. I don’t know if the actuality of these quilts can ever be proven or disproven, but history has revealed that there were many paths to freedom, and following a map of this kind could very well have been one of them. This document was created in Microsoft Word 2000
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
May 2009