Deborah Hopkin’s story illustrates a young girl named Clara, who was separated from her mother when she was twelve years old. When Clara moved to her new plantation, she was taken in by Aunt Rachel, a woman who was not Clara’s biological aunt but had agreed to raised Clara as her own. When she began to grow tired of working with Young Jack as a field hand, she learned how to sew and moved to the Big House to help sew for their Missus. One day, Clara overheard some of the other slaves talking about the Underground Railroad to freedom and decided that she wanted to run away to Canada. Over the next few months, she gathered fabric pieces that represented major landmarks and started to sew a quilt that represented a map to freedom. During the summer, Young Jack attempted to run away but was caught five days later. Upon his return, Young Jack helped Clara to finish her map and quilt by giving her details of the major landmarks he saw during his escape. Soon thereafter, they left Home Plantation together, found Clara’s mother and new sister, and guided them to freedom. Because Clara left her quilt with her Aunt Rachel, other slaves from their own and other plantations used the quilt to find freedom.
In my classroom, I would use Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt to focus on the Underground Railroad and slavery. For a writing activity, I would have the students write about how they would feel if they were separated from their parents. Also, I would have the students complete the following writing prompt: “Imagine if you were a white person living in the South during slavery and did not agree with slavery. Would you be a part of the Underground Railroad? How do you think it would feel to be a part of the Underground Railroad?”
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