What if all Decatur County Reads…Follow the Drinking Gourd?
When the sun comes back and the first quail calls, Follow the drinking gourd. For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom, If you follow the drinking gourd. So begins a folk song taught long ago among the slaves to help them begin the grueling journey north to freedom. While the song seemed harmless to the plantation and slave owners it was in this song that slaves found the clues to lead them North to the Ohio River and on to a free life. When the sun comes back and the first quail calls referred to the beginning of spring, a time when travel would be less hazardous. Following the drinking gourd was to follow the North Star in the Big Dipper North to the edge of the Ohio River where the old man waited to transport them across by boat where they were told of a path of safe houses called the Underground Railroad by which they would be carried to freedom. The Greensburg Public Library is holding the annual “What if All Decatur County Reads ? One County, One Book” September 1
Related Questions
- On occasions the Decatur County Commissioners declare a snow, ice, or other type of emergency, due to bad weather or disaster. What should this declaration mean to me?
- How do I receive a copy of an accident report which was completed by an Decatur County Officer?
- Could thousands of slaves have used the Drinking Gourd route to escape?
