Follow the Drinking Gourd

""For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom, if you follow drinking gourd""



It sounded like a simple folk song sung by slaves, but it was really a map to freedom - for hidden in the lyrics were directions to the escape route known as the Underground Railroad. In glowing paintings that evoke the American folk tradition and a simple text inspired by slave narratives, the story is told of one brave family who followed the drinking gourd - the Big Dipper - north to liberation.