Teresa Kemp, Wilson's daughter and Ozella's great-niece, maintains her family is very private, and in 2002 claimed they only went public because "some writer in NY made the comment that our family was not smart enough to have passed down the history."  She also complained that although Ozella "was a principal in CA and a college graduate with a law degree they left those items of information out and showed her looking like a slave, not a LA socialite."  This seems to echo Tobin; according to historian Wright, Tobin (who is white) has claimed that the only people to  question Hidden in Plain View are "angry white quilters" who goaded Wright (who is African-American) into publicly debunking the "code".  (Consider also Ms. Kemp's assertions about the Daughters of the Confederacy.)   

In a later email, Kemp gave me a somewhat different explanation, indicating that early on the family had collaborated with Tobin but then parted ways:   

it was not our decision to go public. [HIPV author] Jackie Tobin selected my Aunt to write about. Once the book came out then she and Ramond [Dobard] were under attack for what everone said was a made up story. My aunt was deseased! I have always know the information but never went public.

We then let Jackie know she is not the Griot for our family but my mother is and knows everyone, where the are what the did, where they lived, their children and their children's children. She did all the research on the oral history and had documented a lot. Most middle aged people want to know about their families and some younger ones also. Anyway after Jackie seemed to become the voice for our family it became necessary to call the authors and the publishers and publist for them and let them know we were alive and quilting.

We were asked to attend press conferences and some of the appearances they were making since they did not even have all the infomation or know how the code fit. They talked with my aunt 3 time and did some research and wrote the book! We agreed. That was also one of the ways we could take control of our family story and be sure it was accurately told. Also Jackie was not the keeper of the sacred Quilt Code for the Black Race as had been portrayed in some articles that are still available on the internet for your review!

it was not our decision to go public. [HIPV author] Jackie Tobin selected my Aunt to write about. Once the book came out then she and Ramond [Dobard] were under attack for what everone said was a made up story. My aunt was deseased! I have always know the information but never went public.

We could have taken them to court but we chose to be supportive and we truely are honored that a Women's history professor selected my aunt to be the subject of her book. It was unfortunate that they waited until she passed to publish.

We have heard a lot of negative information about some people who find older African-Americans buy their "art", have their friends buy the folk art, video tape them, and when they pass they are the owners of Original Folk Art and do books, videos write grants for world tours. It had been told to me that it is a form of sharecropping. The elderly live on their land and in exchange they give them pieces of their art.

I am not saying that is what Jackie did but that is one of the topics my co-workers told me about when the articles about hidden in Plain View came out. They did not know it was my family. I just listened. That is when I had to decide what to do. As I met these collectors on a buying trip. Some stopped in Atlanta and asked to see my quilts. They wanted one of the quilt squares my daughter made but I explained it is part of a 5 generation quilt we are making.

They purchased 14 quilts in Alabama for 200.00! All hand made originals I could not believe it.

Well that began my immediate family having to be more public with exhibits and programs or it would have been taken over by these other groups.

It is Kemp's position that her family has never attempted to profit from the book. But in fact her extended family has a thriving cottage industry centered around the Quilt Code. According to Ohio records, like Ozella (who sold her quilts in a Charleston tourist mall),  Wilson began  making and selling quilts  under the name "Plantation Quilts and Gifts" in  1993 - the same year Ozella first approached Tobin with her story.  But Wilson did not register that business name until six weeks after the release of Hidden in Plain View  in January 1999.  (Their 2006 website, whose domain they registered in 2003, inexplicably carries a copyright date of "April 1998"- nearly a year before Kemp says the family knew Ozella had spoken to anyone about the "Code".  She said she displays the book with quilts she has for sale at her stall in an antiques and crafts mall.  While Tobin told me in 2002 that she is a "programmer analyst," in a May 2004 request for help with a grant application she describes herself and her parents as "researchers, historians, lecturers and curators."  Wilson has made numerous television appearances, and stated that her granddaughter was preparing a quilting series for cable TV in conjunction with her son-in-law, who I understand is connected with television or video.  (Kemp says her husband is a television director but is not working on her daughter's project.)  In 2002 Tobin emailed me that a "quilt code" documentary was scheduled to be released in early 2003.  In early 2004 I contacted the production company to find out the status of the documentary.  They said it was still being edited, and welcomed further questions.  However, when I asked what historians were consulting on the project, I never received a reply.  I later learned that at least one well-known quilt historian and appraiser had raised concerns about the film's premise, which may explain the delay in its release.

Wilson says the family gave over 150 lectures in 2001 alone. At these lectures, Kemp says that the family sells "Quilt Code" T-shirts, tote bags, books, and gifts. In 2000 the family offered a 5-day "Underground Railroad Quilt Tour" on their now-defunct website (screen capture here)  Kemp told me that for a one-hour lecture and a discussion period she charges a speaking fee plus hotel, meals and air transportation for the up to 4 generations of her family who participate. She would not reveal the actual speaking fee itself, but offered to waive the transportation if I could schedule the lecture to coincide with a tennis tournament her children had in my area. 

Wilson and Kemp's now-defunct, Geocities-based website (screen captures here, here and here) stated variously that it was sponsored by "Plantation Quilts & Gifts along with the Underground Railroad Family & Friends Foundation". When asked about this foundation, Wilson said it was a nonprofit Georgia organization run by Kemp, who could provide the tax ID number for tax-deductible contributions. But in 2002 Georgia state officials said they had no record of any such organization, tax-exempt or otherwise.  I also found no such organization registered in Wilson's home state of Ohio.

The Geocities website described the family's "traveling museum exhibit" (screen capture here) as "the greatest human relations event & conversational dialogue that your community has ever experienced"; the family's new website (screen captures here, here, here and here) goes into much greater detail.

When questioned in a phone conversation about this "museum exhibit" (also described in her magazine article), Wilson admitted it was simply the collection of quilts, fabrics, dolls, gourds, masks and ship models the family brings to its lectures and sometimes displays afterward. She could not say whether any of the quilts she uses in her lectures are in fact from the Underground Railroad period, but pictures and her 2006 website advertisement of "over 20 hand stitched quilts, 9 from the 1800's".  The quilts displayed with other objects used in "Quilt Code" lectures are clearly less than 50 years old; prominently featured on the 2004 site is a quilt in red, white and blue whose unusual star pattern was taken directly from the 1996 Leisure Arts book Quick Method Liberty Quilts.  

One of the quilts in Wilson's "Quilt Code" artifacts display pictured on the family's 2003 website (above), comes from a 1990s patriotic quilt pattern book (right)

Overstatement seems to be something of a habit. On August 27, 2004 Kemp emailed educators, museums, and federal organizations that 

..on Monday evening my Parents ( Howard & Serena Wilson and my daughter Kir Kemp) are going to be on television CBS with Harry Reasoner and Scott Frazier. OUr families story along with Lori who is Levi Coffin's decendant will be discussed.

Readers would be forgiven for thinking this was a prime-time interview with a leading newsanchor and founder of 60 Minutes, until recently a program known for in-depth investigative reporting, and therefore presuming that Wilson's claims were being taken seriously.  But Reasoner has been dead for 13 years.  As it turns out, the week before Kemp sent out her email, Ms. Wilson (without her husband or granddaughter), sporting what appears to be a Nigerian buba dress over her Western clothing, briefly appeared in a segment on the CBS early-morning "lite" news show hosted by Harry Smith.  There was no interview or "discussion" of the "families story"; Wilson has no connection with the Museum and was not appearing at its behest.

Both Wilson (in Ohio) and Kemp (in Georgia) applied for inclusion in the National Parks Service's UGRR "Network to Freedom" program. Both were turned down.

In May 2004 Kemp emailed Tagger asking for help obtaining letters of interest for a Department of Education grant. (Such letters, which come from prospective service users, are a critical part of a grant application since they demonstrate a need for the service being proposed.)  Kemp's proposal:  to obtain  "an 18-wheeler semi-truck like the Lewis and Clark traveling exhibit that would be a traveling interpretive laboratory that would be a museum that comes to you". She also wrote that "If anyone has matching grants for Historical, Cultural (Gechee-Gulla), African Studies, African-American, Women Studies, UGRR, Mathematics or Science we would like to discuss to see if we are a good fit. Our programs and exhibits cover all of the above topics, diversity workshops and more."  Tagger forwarded the email to fifty-one individuals and organizations, but states the NPS's position on the "Code" is noncommittal.

In February 2005 Kemp announced in an email:

I have been so busy working on a dream! I have gotten an UGRR Quilt Museum Open to honor my families envolvemnt [sic] in the Underground Railroad! 

This a note to invite you to visit my Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum at Underground Atlanta. You are welcome to post information on your website or distribute  information any way you would like. Let me know if you would like me to mail you more information. Mention this e-mail and you can come for free and your guest can have $2.00 off the $76.00 [sic] admission fee. Please forward this e-mail and help me get the word out.

An antiques dealer toured the museum later that year, but was unable to find any 19th century quilts; the documents were photocopies of e.g. advertisements for runaway slaves.  Although the quilts were displayed in full light without any UV protection, he was not permitted to take any photographs because this "might damage the quilts."  Fortunately the family's new website contains two images of the displays; enlargements are here and here.  All visible objects are clearly 20th century.  Products from the museum's gift shop are also available online.  In late 2006 Zambian handicrafts were also offered, although no slaves are known to have been brought to the US from that part of Africa.  

Not on display is the original firsthand account of the "Code" which Kemp persists in claiming she possesses.