Saturday, February 11, 2012

Follow the Drinking Gourd - Day 42


When the sun comes back,
and the first quail calls,
Follow the drinking gourd
The old man is awaiting for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.

During the times of the Underground Railroad, a popular song among the slaves was "Follow the Drinking Gourd" which gave specific instructions on how to follow the path to freedom.  The Drinking Gourd was another name given to the Big Dipper constellation, and following it led the slaves to the North.  There is further explanation of the lyrics here.

On Sunday, February 12th, the Dooley Planetarium at FMU will provide a program about following the drinking gourd.  More info...

365 Days Around Florence is a blog written by the Florence Convention and Visitors Bureau. At the Visitor Center near the Florence Civic Center, we spend a great deal of our time in letting guests know how much is happening in Florence. We decided to share (blog-style) 365 days' worth of things to do. Find more things to do at www.visitflo.com/regional_calendar/ ... and enjoy!

No comments:

Post a Comment