Top Stories for Tuesday June 7, 2011

Stitched Into Freedom: The Role Of Quilts In The Underground Railroad
By Cookie Steponaitis
In hope chests and places of honor around the nation are heirloom quilts that were lovingly stitched and passed down through generations. Some are records of a family tree and others are collections of fabrics and images that carry great personal meaning. Still more occupy a distinct place in the history of this nation, for they were a part of the Underground Railroad that was hidden in plain sight and had roadmaps and itineraries for runaway slaves as they struck out for freedom in the north.  [ more ]

From Where I Lie: When All Food was Slow
By Larry Johnson
     Do you remember when there was no such thing as fast food, and Burger King wasn’t even a glimmer in anyone’s eye? When I was growing up all food was slow; there were no fast food joints except Howard Johnson’s and A&W, and even at these outlets the food was glacially produced. In the case of A&W, however, the food was sometimes delivered to car side by teenage girls on roller skates. That was definitely fast food to our way of thinking.  For the most part we ate at home, sitting around the kitchen table, hoping our arms were long enough to keep us from starving to death. There was no microwave, only a wood-fired kitchen range where things either got fried, baked or boiled, and by the time the food had turned to leather there was no concern about salmonella or other forms of food poisoning. Quantity was our major concern, not microbial infestation. Limiting caloric intake never entered our minds.

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