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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; In 1999, a book by art historian Raymond Dobard Jr. and college instructor Jacqueline Tobin was published called &#8220;Hidden In Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad.&#8221; The book, which is available at The Osterhout Free Library&#8217;s downtown Wilkes-Barre branch, is presented as a factual, historical work documenting the secret codes sewn into quilts hung along Underground Railroad routes. Vocal community members came out both in support of and outright denouncing the book&#8217;s validity, but Tunkhannock resident Olivemae Lewis chose to believe the stories were true; she even created her own Underground Railroad quilt.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been making quilts for quite awhile and I&#8217;ve always been interested in the stories about the underground railroad,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;I worked on this quilt as a hobby for quite awhile.&#8221;</p><p>Lewis&#8217; quilt will be on display at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 at The Osterhout&#8217;s downtown Wilkes-Barre branch. The 73 year-old Tunkhannock resident will also be in attendance to talk about the piece and its various square codes, inspired by a pattern book from an author who writes on the subject of quilting, Eleanor Burns.</p><p>&#8220;Every time February rolls around I say I should let the library have this quilt and I&#8217;m always too late, so this year in January I thought I&#8217;m going to offer to do this presentation,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;I intend to go through the different quilt blocks and explain what the codes may have meant to these men and women and children that were trying to get to freedom.&#8221;</p><p>According to The Osterhout&#8217;s Coordinator of Information Services Elaine Stefanko, programs like Lewis&#8217; quilt demonstration are imperative to the continued evolution of the library as a community hub.</p><p>&#8220;Libraries are more than books; we need to be a place where the community gathers and comes in for programming,&#8221; Stefanko said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a place where people can get together who have like ideas or even new ideas.&#8221;</p><p>Lewis explained that each block on the quilt held symbols, and these symbols held different meanings; a block referred to as a bear&#8217;s paw may have pointed in the direction of edible berries, while a bow tie block may have signaled an upcoming city where proper attire could help escaping slaves hide among a crowd. Lewis was introduced to Underground Railroad Quilt Codes by someone whose family passed down the story through generations, so the quilter believes in the validity of its history. Whether the codes are historical fact or cultural folk tale remains to be proven, but either way they&#8217;ve inspired Lewis to create an award-winning piece of art.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">73 year-old Tunkhannock resident Olivemae Lewis explains the various messages hidden within her Underground Railroad quilt. This quilt placed second at the Bloomsburg Fair. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Quilt-CMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>73 year-old Tunkhannock resident Olivemae Lewis explains the various messages hidden within her Underground Railroad quilt. This quilt placed second at the Bloomsburg Fair. </caption0><photoCredit0>Gene Axton | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Tunkhannock resident Olivemae Lewis will discuss the quilt&#8217;s codes</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Gene Axton</p><p>gaxton@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Gene Axton at 570-991-6121 or on Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Underground Railroad quilt on display 1 p.m. Feb. 6 at The Osterhout Library’s main branch in Wilkes-Barre