Illinois Road Scholar Connie Martin: Hidden Messages in Negro Spirituals on the Underground Railroad

Powerful, sacred songs that derived from the heart of the antebellum enslaved African were melodic outflowing of religious expression, passion, and the hope to be free. Negro spirituals, as originated in America, tell of sorrow, trials and tribulations, secrecy and hiding, and hope for a sense of community.

Connie Martin is a Joliet West High School Alumni, then she studied teaching at Illinois State University and studied Curriculum Designer at Aurora University.  Connie is an Independent Speaker and Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Speaker Bureau 2023-2024.

Join Connie as she explains the connections of plantation songs, or Negro Spirituals with meanings and interpretations of lyrics of some songs used in regions of the South that signaled a multiple of signs and tips that aided enslaved fugitives to find freedom.

The Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 Road Scholar Education events are sponsored by Old National Bank.