The Underground Railroad

Chapter 21 Summary

The chapter opens with a slave bulletin dated October 4 and circulated by a James Aykroyd. It states that a negro girl named Sukey fled without provocation. It states that her Methodist allegiance can identify her, along with her physical characteristics.

Cora arrives at Valentine farm. Here, she finds herself a struggling student among 6- and 7-year-olds, not unlike the elderly Harold in South Carolina, who wept during lessons. Many of the children speak with precision and maturity. They study and recite the words of the Founding Fathers, and the Declaration of Independence. Cora remarks to her teacher, Georgina, “You sure taught these pickaninnies how to give a proper talk, that’s for sure” (244). Georgina checks to see if any of the children have heard Cora, and then sternly tells Cora that they are called “children” here. Cora flushes with embarrassment.

Four months pass. The harvest is finished. New arrivals to the farm ease Cora out of her place as the outcast. Cora watches them marvel at their schoolbooks. She begins to settle in, knowing the rhythms of the farm and her favorite places to get some privacy. She has settled into a friendship with her teacher Georgina—who, like all the women from Delaware—likes to gossip.