Summaries and Commentaries

Part Two: Chapter 24

dry-goods church  formerly a general merchandise store.

trace  a beaten path or trail left by the repeated passage of persons, vehicles, etc.

Hush, hush. Somebody's calling my name. O my Lord, O my Lord, what shall I do?  lyrics of a familiar spiritual used as a coded message. Such verses form a meaningful segment of black lore, particularly "Follow the Drinking Gourd," the lyrical reminder for runaways to aim for the Big Dipper, or Ursa Major, the constellation that pointed north toward the free states and Canada.

hominy  dry corn (maize) with the hull and germ removed and often coarsely ground (hominy grits); it is boiled for food.

juba  a Southern plantation black dance of the ninteenth century, characterized by a lively rhythm marked by clapping the hands.


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