San Marcos — Imagine the instructions for a cross-country dash from the law congealed into 10 symbols, and you get an inkling for what quilts to be displayed in San Marcos this weekend may have meant for freedom-seeking African-American slaves.

As part of the city’s Juneteenth celebrations, Linda Neal and Sheila Johnson will give a presentation on quilts and the Underground Railroad at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Juneteenth History Banquet in the San Marcos Conference Center’s Veramendi Ballroom E.

Neal, of Crockett, and Johnson, of Houston, will speak and display quilts containing the 10 codes, as well as other artifacts of the era.

The Underground Railroad, which peaked in the years just prior to the Civil War, was a network of people sympathetic to escaped slaves who helped them reach freedom in Canada.

Travel was mostly at night, in between safe houses. Because many of the fleeing slaves were unable to read or write, Neal said quilts were an effective way to communicate. She said some had the chance to actually study the codes before embarking on their journey northward.

“You would always see one quilt at a time hung on a clothesline, fence post or porch railing,” she said, “that would give directives to slaves.” Some of the messages related to preparation, others to action.

Neal said she and Johnson learned of the quilts and their secret messages through South Carolina resident Ozella McDaniel Williams. “She claimed that her family had passed down these secret codes throughout the generations,” Neal said. “There was a book, ‘Hidden in Plain View,’ based on her secret codes.”

That book, and others on the subject, have come under fire, though. Critics, including Underground Railroad expert Giles Wright of New Jersey, have said they do not believe quilts served the purposes Williams and others claim. According to HistoricCamdemCounty.com, a New York Times review of “Hidden in Plain View” called the quilt story a “fascinating theory.”

Neal said all 10 codes are included in the following “story”:

The monkey wrench turns the wagon wheel toward Canada on a bear’s paw trail to the crossroads. Once they got to the crossroads they dug a log cabin on the ground. Shoofly told them to dress up in cotton and satin bow ties and go to the cathedral church, get married and exchange double wedding rings. Flying geese stay on the drunkard’s path and follow the stars.

The codes include:

• Monkey wrench: Neal said this often related to preparing for the journey ahead, and also “represented the blacksmith, who was a knowledgeable person on the plantation and knew the lay of the land. Because of his strength and skills people would look up to him as he was able to go undetected and pass information along.”

• Wagon wheel: “They’re simply talking about the mode of transportation, the wagon.”

• Bear’s paw: “This would tell them to follow bear trails. Bears hibernate in the winter and when they wake in the spring they go look for food. This will lead them to food and water and protection, shelter in the caves.”

• Crossroads: Refers to somewhere the fleeing slave might make a key contact or deciding route. Neal noted that the Underground Railroad also ran roughly parallel to the Appalachian mountains.

• Flying geese: “They head north,” Neal said simply.

• Star: “This would lead them toward the north star to freedom,” Neal says, adding that during Saturday’s presentation, all 10 codes will be fully explained.

Their presentation was lined up by City Council member Chris Jones, who saw the two women in Seguin in January.

“I think it will be informative as well as something that shows another part of our history,” Jones said. “It’s something that people will enjoy because it really shows how supportive communities were as it relates to the freedom of African American people.”

Prior to seeing the women make their presentation, Jones said he was unaware of the link between quilting and the quest for freedom. “It’s something most people don’t know abut. It really shows how the quilting aspect of what went on back then relates to slavery and freedom.”

Juneteenth activities kick off Friday at Dunbar Center and City Park. Other events are being held at other locations. For a full schedule visit sanmarcostx.gov.

Juneteenth, officially June 19, commemorates the day — two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation — that slaves in Texas learned they had been freed.

The Juneteenth History Banquet is sponsored by the Pride of San Marcos Lodge, also known as the High 12 Social Club.