"These statues were used as markers on the Underground Railroad throughout the South into Canada," says historian/author Charles Blockson, curator of the Afro-American Collection at Temple University in Philadelphia. "Green ribbons were tied to the arms of the statue to indicate safety; red ribbons meant to keep going. "People who don't know the history of the jockey have feelings of humiliation and anger when they see the statue," he adds. "But this figure, which was sometimes used in a clandestine nature, and sometimes without the knowledge of the person who owned the statue, was a positive and supportive image to African-Americans on the road to freedom." Sometimes, adds Blockson, a flag was put into the hand of the statue to indicate safety. 1950 rendition of the popular collectible and highly misunderstood yard jockey statue It's because of this role that jockeys--or their precursors, the groomsmen, which were dressed in slave's clothing--have become sought-after collectibles.