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Night Sky Tour– “Follow the Drinking Gourd”
February 15 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Night Sky Tour, Featuring “Follow the Drinking Gourd” Presentation
Ages 4+
Witness the night sky come to life as you learn about the constellations among the stars, planets currently visible, our place in the cosmos, and more! Featuring a discussion on how the American folk song, “Follow the Drinking Gourd” decoded the night sky map for fleeing slaves traveling the underground railroad, in this very special presentation.
About “Follow the Drinking Gourd”
The American folksong Follow the Drinking Gourd was first published in 1928. The Drinking Gourd song was supposedly used by an Underground Railroad operative to encode escape instructions and a map. These directions then enabled fleeing slaves to make their way north from Mobile, Alabama to the Ohio River and freedom. Taken at face value, the “drinking gourd” refers to the hollowed out gourd used by slaves (and other rural Americans) as a water dipper. But here it is used as a code name for the Big Dipper star formation, which points to Polaris, the Pole Star, and North. In the ensuing 80 years, the Drinking Gourd played an important role in the Civil Rights and folk revival movements of the 1950s and 1960s, and in contemporary elementary school education. Much of the Drinking Gourd’s enduring appeal derives from its perceived status as a unique, historical remnant harkening back to the pre-Civil War South – no other such map songs survive.
FREE for members. $9 for non-members.