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Underground Railroad Free Press . . . your source for news and views on today's Underground Railroad
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> | underground railroad free press prizes for leadership, preservation & knowledge |
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About Underground Railroad Free Press |
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What We Do |
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Underground Railroad Free Press was founded in 2006 to fill the unmet need of objective reporting on the Underground Railroad of today. According to a 2007 survey Underground Railroad Free Press is the most widely read Underground Railroad periodical publication with about double the readership of any competitor. While there are several other very useful news publications on the Underground Railroad, none in our opinion is a truly independent, international, regularly-issued publication devoted to collecting and objectively reporting Underground Railroad news. We find several of these occasional publications to be highly informative and useful, each in its own way, and we recommend them to readers.
The main purpose of Underground Railroad Free Press is objective reporting of news on the Underground Railroad of today. This includes what organizations and individuals are doing on behalf of the Underground Railroad and concentrates on useful information for the public, especially the identification of Underground Railroad safe-houses and routes, preservation efforts, Underground Railroad programs and threats to sites or programs. The emphasis is on breaking news. We welcome guest opinion editorials - op-ed pieces - which may be submitted here and are subject to editing for length, clarity, good taste and correct English usage. Underground Railroad Free Press is published six times per year on the fifteenth of January, March, May, July, September and November.
The Underground Railroad Free Press Prizes Underground Railroad Free Press annually awards three prizes intended as the most esteemed honor bestowed in the Underground Railroad community. The Underground Railroad Free Press prizes recognize and honor the most outstanding contributions to contemporary Underground Railroad work in leadership, preservation and advancement of knowledge. The prizes also promote awareness and appreciation of contemporary Underground Railroad work to the general public, governments and key decision-makers by publicizing prizes and winners. For more on the prizes or to download a nomination form, click here.
Datebook As a feature of our web site, Free Press operates Datebook, a growing international calendar of Underground Railroad events. Email us about upcoming events and we will add them to Datebook. Click here to visit Datebook.
Lynx Lynx is a popular Free Press service created as a result of reader suggestions. Accessible at our web site, Lynx invites other organizations involved with the Underground Railroad to add their names and web links to a growing list of organizations. To add your link, email us here with the name and web address of your organization. To visit Lynx, click here.
Underground Railroad Surveys Underground Railroad Free Press conducts annual surveys on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Underground Railroad leaders, Free Press subscribers, site owners and others, and makes the results of surveys available on our web site. Click here to view or download our report on the most recent annual Underground Railroad survey.
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Submissions of News, Articles, Letters to the Editor and Advertising |
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Click here for guidelines on submission of news and guest articles.
Click here for guidelines on submission of letters to the editor.
Click here for advertising specifications, rates and deadlines.
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Other Useful Underground Railroad News Publications |
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The Conductor, the newsletter of the Network to Freedom program of the National Park Service is perhaps the most comprehensive of the other publications and, other than Underground Railroad Free Press, the most widely read. We find The Conductor especially useful in keeping abreast of federal government efforts in Underground Railroad work, but being a government publication, it can not offer editorials or go far in commenting on the Underground Railroad work of others.
The Lantern, the publication of Friends of the Underground Railroad, a private Underground Railroad group, has been informative since its inception in Fall, 2005, and we hope that this new organization will sustain publication of The Lantern.
Professor Christopher Densmore of Swarthmore College periodically issues a very informative calendar of Underground Railroad events generally focused on the Philadelphia area where he is located.
Judith Wellman, President of Historical New York Research Associates, produces a series of email notices primarily recounting the significant amount of work that she and others are doing to identify and protect Underground Railroad sites in northern New York state where she lives.
There are other smaller, less frequently issued publications producing useful shared information including those of National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati and the Underground Railroad Research Institute at Georgetown College in Kentucky.
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Submissions |
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Underground Railroad Free Press welcomes articles and news releases involving the contemporary Underground Railroad. Articles should be submitted exclusively to Underground Railroad Free Press unless we have otherwise agreed with the author beforehand. News releases do not carry this restriction. We give preference to articles and news releases which do not exceed 300 words in length though the occasional longer piece will be considered.
Submit articles and news releases by clicking here.
We reserve the right to edit for length and content any articles or news releases submitted. Submissions must be accompanied by the name, email address, postal address and daytime telephone number of the author which we may use to verify submissions. All rights to submissions including email and letters will be treated as unconditionally assigned to Underground Railroad Free Press for publication and copyright purposes, and as subject to the unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially by Underground Railroad Free Press unless otherwise negotiated with authors.
Click here for submission guidelines for letters to the editor.
Click here for submission guidelines for display and line advertising.
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Submissions |
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Letters to the Editor |
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We welcome letters to the editor which should be submitted exclusively to Underground Railroad Free Press unless otherwise agreed with the author beforehand. We give preference to letters which do not exceed 800 words in length.
Submit letters to the editor by clicking here.
We reserve the right to edit letters to the editor for length, content and correct English usage. Letters must be accompanied by the name, email address, postal address and daytime telephone number of the author which we may use to verify letters to the editor. All rights to submissions including email and letters will be treated as unconditionally assigned to Underground Railroad Free Press for publication and copyright purposes, and as subject to the unrestricted right of Underground Railroad Free Press to edit and comment editorially unless otherwise negotiated with authors.
Click here for submission guidelines for news and articles.
Click here for submission guidelines for display and line advertising.
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Display Advertising |
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Policy Underground Railroad Free Press accepts tasteful, nonpolitical display advertising. Underground Railroad Free Press reserves the right to reject any advertising which for any reason in our sole judgment is not acceptable.
Submitting Display Advertisements Submit display advertisements by email attachment to ads@urrfreepress.com in jpg, tiff, gif, png or pdf format or as editable text. Maximum dimensions for display advertisements are as follows. If your advertisement is larger than whichever width you specify, we will reduce it to fit if possible.
One-Column Width 2.5" maximum wide by 8.0" maximum long
Two-Column Width 5.25" maximum wide by 8.0" maximum long
Three-Column Width (Full page wide) 7.5" maximum wide by 8.0" maximum long
Deadlines The current publication schedule of Underground Railroad Free Press is the fifteenth of January, March, May, July, September and November. Acceptable display advertising copy must be received by us not later than the first day of the month of publication.
Rate $15 per column inch
Payment All advertising must be prepaid by check made to Underground Railroad Free Press. Payment must be received not later than the first day of the month of publication.
Click here for submission guidelines for news and articles.
Click here for submission guidelines for letters to the editor.
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Line Advertisements |
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Policy Underground Railroad Free Press accepts tasteful, nonpolitical line advertisements. Underground Railroad Free Press reserves the right to reject any advertising which for any reason in our sole judgment is not acceptable.
Submitting Line Advertisements Submit line advertisements by email attachment to us at ads@urrfreepress.com as editable text. Line advertisements are displayed in one-column width and may be longer than one column in length.
Deadlines The current publication schedule of Underground Railroad Free Press is the fifteenth of January, March, May, July, September and November. Acceptable line advertising copy must be received by us not later than the first day of the month of publication.
Rate $15 per column inch
Payment All advertising must be prepaid by check made to Underground Railroad Free Press. Payment must be received not later than the first day of the month of publication.
Click here for submission guidelines for news and articles.
Click here for submission guidelines for letters to the editor.
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Contact
Underground Railroad Free Press 2455 Ballenger Creek Pike Adamstown, Maryland, 21710
Telephone > 301.874.0235 Facsimile > 888.605.2fax
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Lynx is the international Underground Railroad community's central registry of Underground Railroad organizations and programs. Lynx lists institutions large and small across the United States and Canada which are involved in various aspects of today's Underground Railroad. Following in alphabetical order are the registry's listings. To add your organization, program or Underground Railroad site to Lynx, email us here.
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African American Tourism Council of Maryland |
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The Council promotes the research, documentation, preservation, protection, and promotion of African American history, culture and tourism including the Underground Railroad in Maryland. Visit the web site here.
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Akwaaba Heritage Associates |
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Akwaaba presents stories that bring historical personalities and events to life. From two hours to several days, Akwaaba tours and reenactments are customized to challenge the senses, intellect and heart of visitor and scholar, child and adult. Visit the web site here.
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The American Heritage Legacy Tour |
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The organization conducts several tours and productions in the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia including "The Underground Railroad: The Cherokee Woman and the Runaway Slave, A Love Story" Visit the web site here.
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Baltimore Black Heritage Tours (BBH Tours) |
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BBH Tours conducts tours of many African-American and Underground Railroad heritage sites in Baltimore including the Frederick Douglass escape site, his later rental properties, the new Reginald Lewis Museum, Underground Railroad safe-houses and other sites. Visit BBH Tours here.
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Belpre Historical Society |
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The organization operates a museum with an Underground Railroad exhibit at 509 Ridge Street, Belpre, Ohio. Visit the website here.
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Cooling Springs Farm |
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This working farm, one of the most often visited Underground Railroad sites in the United States, is open to the public for tours and study. This Underground Railroad safe-house is thought to be the only safe-house still owned by the same family that operated it during Underground Railroad times. The farm was founded by the family in 1768 and its seventh generation operates the farm today. Visit Cooling Springs Farm here.
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Ellwood Harvey Website |
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This website is dedicated to the remarkable achievements and life of Ellwood Harvey, M.D., an underground railroad conductor and women's rights advocate, one of the early supporters of the Female Medical College of Philadelphia, the world's first college for female doctors. While at the college Dr. Harvey undertook the risky mission of freeing Ann Maria Weems, a 15-year-old slave from Unity, Maryland. Dressed as a boy, she and Dr. Harvey rendezvoused literally in front of the White House (Franklin Pierce was the president). Posing as Harveys buggy driver, they spent two days riding north to abolitionist William Still's Philadelphia safe-house. After Thanksgiving, Dr. Harvey took Weems to Camden, New Jersey, via the ferry, and then by train to New York City where he delivered her to Rev. Charles B. Ray who took Weems to Lewis Tappan's house. Amos Noe then took her over the border to the Elgin Settlement in Canada and freedom. This story is chronicled in the books Stealing Freedom (Carbone), Free (Cary), The Underground Railroad (Still) and several other places. Visit the website here.
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Emmanuel Episcopal Church |
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This Cumberland, Maryland, church was used as an Underground Railroad safe-house. Visit the church's web site here.
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Forging the Freedom Trail Foundation |
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This organization promotes heritage tourism especially regarding the Underground Railroad in the state of New York. Visit the foundation here.
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Freedom Time |
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The organization, based in Maysville, Kentucky, offers slave & Underground Railroad tours, presentations and exhibits. Visit Freedom Time here.
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The Freedom Underground Railroad Museum |
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The museum is located in Bierbower House, an Underground Railroad safe-house in Maysville, Kentucky. The Museum displays artifacts of local descendants of African slaves, materials related to local and regional anti-slavery activists who made a national impact and the Bierbower safe-House on the lower level of the building. Visit the Museum web site here.
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The Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College |
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This library specializes in the Religious Society of Friends - the Quaker Church - and its role in the Underground Railroad. Visit the library here.
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Founded in 2007, this private body is a nonprofit support and fundraising group for the National Park Service Network to Freedom program. A link to the association web site will be provided here as soon as its web site is active.
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Friends of the Underground Railroad |
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This private body was founded in 2004i an Underground Railroad umbrella organization intended to preserve Underground Railroad history, support programs of others and raise up the Underground Railroad legacy for future generations. However, the organization has not conducted business since 2006. Visit Friends of the Underground Railroad here.
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Galesburg Colony Underground Railroad Freedom Center |
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The Center, operated by Knox College Professor Owen Muelder, specializes in research and education on the Underground Railroad in Western Illinois. Knox College itself was an Underground Railroad safe-house. See the May, 2007, issue of Underground Railroad Free Press for a review of the book by Owen Muelder, The Underground Railroad In Western Illinois. Visit the website here.
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Gammon House Restoration Committee |
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A group of local citizens in the Springfield, Ohio, area is restoring this former safe-house to a state which can be used as a forthcoming Underground Railroad Interpretive Center. The Center does not yet have a web site.
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Georgetown College's Underground Railroad Research Institute |
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The Institute performs research especially on the Underground Railroad in Kentucky where it is located, publishes the Voice of Freedom newsletter and hosts symposia and conferences. Visit the Institute here.
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The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark |
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A local nonprofit organization operates a number of history and Underground Railroad programs year round at the former home of one of the most famed abolitionists. Visit the web site here.
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Grace Hill Settlement House |
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The organization operates the Grace Hill AmeriCorps Trail Ranger Project involving 15 young adults who use their time managing the Mary Meachum Underground Railroad site as well as learning about African-American slave history and providing presentations to the community on the subject. The Grace Hill Settlement House is located at 2600 Hadley Street, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63106. Visit the website here.
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The Harriet Tubman Historical Society |
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This group has been instrumental in having had several states establish March 10 each year as Harriet Tubman Day and seeks to make the date a national observance. Visit the Harriet Tubman Historical Society here.
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Harriet Tubman Institute On the Global Migrations of African Peoples |
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This institute, operated by York University of Ontario, Canada, performs research on the African diaspora. Visit the Harriet Tubman Institute here.
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Historic Palmyra |
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The organization owns and operates four museums within walking distance of the Erie Canal and two Underground Railroad sites in Rochester, New York, and features history from 1800 to the present through artifacts of all types. Historic Palmyra is part of the Rochester Museum and Science Center Freedom Trail and is listed in the Wayne County, New York, inventory of Underground Railroad history and places. Visit the website here.
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Historical New York Research Associates |
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This organization investigates and promotes Underground Railroad history and sites in upstate New York where it is located and is active in assisting the work of other Underground Railroad groups. Visit Historical New York Research Associates here.
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The History Center of Niagara County |
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Operated by the Niagara County Historical Society, in Freeport, New York, the History Center of Niagara County presents a glimpse of area life over the last 175 years including the area's rich Underground Railroad history. Visit the Center here.
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Howland Stone Store Museum |
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Quaker storekeeper Slocum Howland was an active abolitionist. The museum displays an authentic "ticket" used in the Underground Railroad passage of two "parcels." Howland arrived in the area in 1798 with his parents, was a devoted Quaker, wool buyer, entrepreneur, anti-slavery advocate, banker, large landowner, prohibitionist and local leader. His daughter, Miss Emily, was avidly involved in women's rights, temperance, education, world peace, abolition, Political Equality clubs, and rights for Negroes. Located in Aurora, New York, the store was built in 1837 by Slocum Howland and is important as a graceful and virtually unaltered example of a simple Greek revival cobblestone building, hence its name. Visit the website here.
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Indiana Freedom Trails |
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Indiana Freedom Trails works to locate, identify, verify, protect, preserve and promote Indiana's Underground Railroad safe-houses and routes, and is dedicated to the research, education, interpretation and reverence of the state's Underground Railroad heritage for the benefit of future generations. Visit Indiana Freedom Trails here. |
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The John W. Jones Museum |
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The museum is located in Elmira, New York, and perpetuates the memory and the spirit of the men and women of the Southern Tier of New York who supported the Underground Railroad and worked to protect the freedom of those who escaped slavery. John Jones was an Underground Railroad freedom seeker, conductor and safe-house operator. The board of trustees of the museum is restoring the Jones house as a museum commemorating the life and work of the former slave who safely assisted nearly 800 freedom seekers to Canada. Visit the museum here.
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The Journey Through Hallowed Ground |
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The Journey Through Hallowed Ground contains one of the heaviest concentrations of Underground Railroad routes and over 70 safe-houses just in the Maryland and Pennsylvania portions of the Journey. This newest National Historic Area recognizes the unparalleled cultural, historic and scenic resources along the 125-mile Journey corridor from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Underground Railroad-rich Frederick County, Maryland, to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia home. With nine Presidential homes, Camp David, 73 National Historic Districts, most Civil War Battlefields, 15 historic Main Street towns, and many scenic landscapes, roads, and rivers, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, "Where America Happened", holds more history than any United States region of similar size. Visit here.
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Kim and Reggie Harris |
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The couple has been researching, recording and performing music of the Underground Railroad and of the Civil Rights movement for more than 25 years. Their many albums are widely available. See the September, 2007, issue of Free Press for more on their work. Visit the Harris web site here. |
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Knox College Underground Railroad Freedom Center |
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The Center operates the Knox College Underground Railroad Freedom Station, a campus building which was used as an Underground Railroad safe-house by College faculty. The Center holds exhibits on the history of the Underground Railroad in western Illinois and gathers and preserves documents about the Underground Railroad. Visit the Center here.
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The MapMuse Map of the Underground Railroad |
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The MapMuse web site has compiled the most complete and informative map of Underground Railroad safe-houses and routes that we have seen, and is continuously expanding the map and its content on sites. This relatively new on-line interactive map of grows as the international Underground Railroad community learns of it and adds more and more sites. Visit the National Underground Railroad map here.
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Mark Priest |
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The often-awarded Mark Priest is a painter of Underground Railroad scenes and people, and a Professor of Art at the University of Louisville. Visit his web site here.
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Maryland Underground Railroad Coalition |
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The organization is the umbrella group for Underground Railroad organizations throughout Maryland and led the effort to have the Maryland legislature in 2000 declare March 10 as an annual observance of Harriet Tubman Day in Maryland. Visit the Maryland Underground Railroad Coalition here.
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Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation |
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From its web site, "The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation is dedicated to educating current and future generations about Gage's work and its power to drive contemporary social change. Matilda Joslyn Gage of Fayetteville, New York, was an Underground Railroad safe-house operator as were her parents, and a leader in the women's rights movement. Visit the Foundation here.
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The McClew Interpretive Center |
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Charles and Anna Maria McClew were part of a secret network of people who helped freedom seekers make their way through the Niagara frontier to Canada. The McClews moved to this property in 1850 and built their house and barns using native wood and bricks on site, and used stones cut from the Erie Canal excavation to cap the foundation wall. There is a concealed room beneath the McClew barn where people escaping slavery were able to rest and recuperate. The entrance to the room can still be seen today. Visit at Murphy Orchards, 2402 McClew Road, Burt, New York, 14028. Visit the web site here.
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The Menare Foundation |
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Oldest of the contemporary national Underground Railroad organizations, the Menare Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of Underground Railroad history, historic sites and environments, and to the creation of associated educational programs. Through assistance and training, Menare works with individuals and organizations to preserve the Underground Railroad legacy using history as a resource for community revitalization, race dialogue and cultural growth. Visit the Foundation here.
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Mid-Hudson Anti-Slavery History Project |
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The Mid-Hudson Antislavery History Project conducts research on the history of antislavery in the Mid-Hudson Valley, with special emphasis on the Underground Railroad, interprets this history, share these interpretations with a wide array of residents and visitors to the area with particular attention to students and youth, places local histories of slavery and antislavery in the Mid-Hudson Valley in the broader contexts of racial slavery in the New World and interprets the impact of this historic grassroots movement on subsequent struggles for racial and social justice. Visit the website here.
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The National Museum of African-American History and Culture |
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The Smithsonian Institution will launch an Underground Railroad program hosted by the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture. The Museum will be housed in a building to be constructed on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The target date for completion of Museum construction is December, 2015. The story of the Underground Railroad will be featured prominently in Museum exhibits, resources and publicity, and the Museum has already begun collecting Underground Railroad oral histories in its Memory Book feature. Click here to visit the Museum web site.
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The National Park Service Network to Freedom |
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Like the National Museum of African-American History and Culture above, the Network to Freedom is another federal government program on the Underground Railroad and is managed by the National Park Service. This program's web site maintains partial lists of Underground Railroad sites, programs and collections. Visit the Network to Freedom here.
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The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center |
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This impressive Cincinnati, Ohio, museum, opened in 2004 to much fanfare and national press coverage, is the world's showpiece on the Underground Railroad. It's authentic slave pen as one enters the museum is utterly arresting in its impact. Beyond the Underground Railroad, the Freedom Center also explores the meaning of freedom and present-day slavery in the United States and around the world. Visit the Freedom Center here.
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Niagara Bound Tours |
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This tour company provides Underground Railroad history tours of Niagara, Canada. Tours are conducted by a descendant of slave who came to Canada in 1850 from Kentucky. As well as seeing the sites, the visitor also hears the personal stories. Visit the web site here.
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The Norval Johnson Heritage Center |
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This Canadian historical organization is a museum and library associated with the Nathaniel Dett Memorial Chapel, a British Methodist Episcopal church in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Visit the Norval Johnson Heritage Center web site here.
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North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association |
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This Plattsburgh, New York, organization gives dramatic readings, lectures, and presentations in schools, colleges, and for the general public, and researches, preserves, interprets and promotes the Underground Railroad history of Northeastern New York's Waterways to Freedom. The North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association has done one much to rediscover Underground Railroad routes and safe-houses in the northeast corner of New York. Visit the website here. |
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North Star Historical Project |
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The North Star Historical Project operates in cooperation with the Greenwich Historical Association and the Greenwich Free Library in Greenwich, New York , and promotes the history of the Underground Railroad in the middle part of the eastern tier of New York state. Visit the web site here.
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The Ohio Underground Railroad Association |
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The organization bills itself as a grassroots, all-volunteer non-profit organization which researches, identifies, documents and preserves Ohio Underground Railroad sites. Visit the Ohio Underground Railroad Association here.
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Oneida County Freedom Trail Commission |
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The commission documents Underground Railroad sites, people, and events of Oneida County, New York. Visit the web site here.
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Ontario Black History Society |
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The Ontario Black History Society of Ontario, Canada, is dedicated to the study, preservation and promotion of Black history and heritage. The Society fosters public interest in Black History through recognition, preservation and promotion of the contributions of Black peoples and their collective histories, sponsorship and support of educational conferences and exhibits in this field, and promoting the inclusion of material on Black History in school curricula. Visit the website here.
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Ontario County Historical Society |
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The organization emphasizes the rich Underground Railroad history of this New York County. Visit the web site here.
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Pennsylvania State Archives |
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Just what it say it is. Includes many Pennsylvania Underground Railroad records. Visit the website here.
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Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial |
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This Italianate turn-of-the-century structure was the final home of the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. It exhibits his literary treasures, many of his personal items and his family's furnishings. During his short lifetime, Dunbar became known as the poet laureate of African-Americans. Drawing on his observations of society and the experience of his parents - both former slaves - he gave voice to the social dilemma of disenfranchised people of his day and became a proclaimer of black dignity. The life and legacy of Paul Laurence Dunbar with emphasis on the influence of his father Joshua Dunbar who traveled the Underground Railroad from Kentucky to Canada. Visit the website here.
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Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims |
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Famed abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, father of Uncle Tom's Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe, was the first minister of this Brooklyn, New York, church. Tours of the church can be arranged by appointment. Visit the web site here.
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This Baltimore museum, funded from the estate of the late Reginald Lewis, the African-American chairman and CEO of Beatrice Foods, "is dedicated to sharing the courageous journeys toward freedom and self-determination made by African-American Marylanders." Visit the Reginald F. Lewis Museum here.
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South Bend Berean Seventh Day Adventist Church |
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The church has a broad outreach program to African-Americans and a strong interest in the Underground Railroad. Visit the website here.
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Sparky and Rhonda Rucker |
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Like the Harrises above, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker are long-time performers of songs of the Underground Railroad and a significant amount of 19th century African-American and Civil War music. James "Sparky" Rucker also researches and publishes on this music. Their many albums are widely available. See the January, 2007, issue of Free Press for more on their work. Visit their web site here.
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Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area |
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This program which is operated by Eastern Shore Heritage, Inc. promotes Underground Railroad work on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the part of the state which lies between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Visit the organization's web site here.
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Truesdell House |
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Owned in the mid-1800s by Thomas and Harriet Truesdell, a mixed-race couple who used the home as a safe-house and contributed funds to Underground Railroad organizations. Today owned by Joy Chatel who saved the home from a redevelopment project. Tours are arranged by appointment. Email here.
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Underground Railroad Free Press |
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The highest circulation Underground Railroad news publication. Free Press awards the annual Underground Railroad Free Press Prizes for leadership, preservation and advancement of knowledge in the contemporary Underground Railroad community, the highest honors in the international Underground Railroad community. Free Press operates Lynx, the central registry of Underground Railroad organizations, and Datebook, the central calendar of contemporary Underground Railroad events, and conducts the annual Free Press surveys of the international Underground Railroad community. You are currently at the Underground Railroad Free Press website.
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Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region |
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This organization researches and promotes the Underground Railroad in and around Albany, New York, the state capital, and organizes conferences on the Underground Railroad. Visit the web site of the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region here.
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Warsaw Historical Society |
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This upstate New York historical society has been active in researching the Underground Railroad since 2003 and mounts regular Underground Railroad programs. This area's 1860s Member of Congress, Augustus Frank, Jr., served as floor manager for the bill introducing the XIIIth Amendment to the Constitution and was credited for its passage. Visit the Warsaw Historical Society here.
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Western Maryland Historical Library |
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The Library's web site offers good overviews of the African-American history of three of the four western Maryland counties: Washington, Allegany and Garrett. [For whatever reason, Frederick County is omitted.] See, for example, the page on Allegany County's Underground Railroad. Visit the Library's web site here.
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The Underground Railroad Today
When Harriet Tubman, the last living major figure of the Underground Railroad, died in 1913, interest in the Underground Railroad, which still ran high in some quarters, began to wane. Other than a slight resurgence in the 1930s, the memory of the Underground Railroad began to slip from the national consciousness until by the mid-twentieth century many American adults either had not heard of the Underground Railroad at all or took the name literally as a kind of subway for fugitives.
Until about 1970, few schools at any level included the Underground Railroad in history curricula and even fewer text books made mention of the Underground Railroad even at the college level. Underground Railroad safe-house owners, families whose ancestors had been Underground Railroad freedom seekers, conductors or safe-house operators and others who prized the legacy of the Underground Railroad remained as a rapidly dwindling repository of this nation-defining American legacy. What contemporary author Fergus Bordewich calls the war for the soul of America, what Underground Railroad Free Press regards as the most defining root of the national conscience, was well along in being relegated to the dusty, nearly forgotten back shelves of history.
Beginning about 1970, a reawakening of Underground Railroad interest began when teachers on their own, first a few and then many, began instructing on the Underground Railroad. In the 1990s, the walk of Anthony Cohen, descendant of two Underground Railroad freedom seekers, retracing the route to freedom of one of his ancestors from Maryland to Canada and presented as an article in Smithsonian magazine, triggered a further resurgence of interest in the Underground Railroad. About the same time, Cohen founded the Menare Foundation, the first modern nationwide Underground Railroad organization. This was followed by more and more owners of Underground Railroad safe-houses and routes publicizing the histories of their properties and permitting public access.
In 1998, the United States Congress in a signal event created the Network to Freedom, a National Park Service program celebrating the Underground Railroad, and in 2004, both Friends of the Underground Railroad, Inc., a private organization supporting the Underground Railroad, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the much-lauded Cincinnati museum, were launched.
Following in 2005 came the book by Fergus Bordewich, Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America, a definitive work providing the fullest portrait yet of the Underground Railroad. We highly recommend this book. Others are now busy producing state and national site listings, histories of individual sites and even Underground Railroad fiction as the reawakening of the North American memory of the Underground Railroad becomes more and more deliberate.
With its launching in 2006, Underground Railroad Free Press was very pleased to begin doing its part to bolster this growth and coalescing of Underground Railroad interest by providing regularly published objective reporting on contemporary issues, debates and news regarding the Underground Railroad.
We wish you pleasant reading and welcome your comments.
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History of the Underground RailroadThe 280-Year North American Legacy Many regard the Underground Railroad as the noblest endeavor in United States history, both in colonial times and after nationhood. The Underground Railroad existed for 280 years - more than a quarter of a millennium - from 1585 when the first enslaved people from Africa arrived in the New World at the Spanish settlement of Saint Augustine, Florida, to the end of the Civil War in 1865. The inception of the Underground Railroad, though it would not have a name for another 250 years, would have been when an enslaved person first escaped from the Saint Augustine colony and was aided by any other person, most likely a Native American.
Some historians count as the first written reference to what became known as the Underground Railroad the letter of George Washington of April 12, 1786, to William Morris of Philadelphia recounting Quaker assistance to a freedom seeker escaped from Washington friend, Mr. Dalby, of Alexandria, Virginia. "In another letter, written to William Drayton on November 20, 1786, Washington complains that he had apprehended a runaway slave belonging to Drayton, but when he sent the slave under guard to Baltimore to be reunited with Drayton, the slave escaped and was aided in this by some sort of escape network." As a sign of the times and a harbinger of the Civil War, the man later called the father of his country was not only an enslaver himself but a slave catcher.
Beginning in 1754 with the Quakers and continuing through the late 1700s, Protestant denominations one after another condemned slavery. After the Revolutionary War, northern states rapidly began abolishing slavery, with nine northern states doing so between 1780 and 1786. The remainder of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth saw wholesale formation of northern anti-slavery societies and vigilance committees which began actively aiding fugitives from slavery.
The combination of these various forms of opposition to slavery - the abolitionist movement - lent renewed hope to enslaved people with the predictable result that more of the most daring of them attempted flight to freedom to the northern states and Canada creating a growing wave of Underground Railroad freedom seekers beginning about 1800.
The long-lived, ubiquitous, illegal clandestine operation which came to be known as the Underground Railroad did not even have a name for a quarter of a millennium until the 1830s when participants in what then came to be known as the Underground Railroad began using the terminology of the new transforming technology, the railroad. Freedom seekers began to be referred to as passengers or cargo, their guides along the back ways and trails to freedom as conductors, and those who gave them shelter along the way as agents, station operators or station masters. By sometime in the 1830s, the entire operation, taking on the name of the new technology, became known as the Underground Railroad.
Though actual railroads, especially the Baltimore & Ohio, were occasionally a means of transporting people to freedom, and the nature of the flight to freedom was "underground" by being clandestine, the Underground Railroad was not literally either a railroad or underground, a distinction actually lost on some adults today.
A signal event of the Underground Railroad occurring during the 1830s was the abolition of slavery by Canada in 1833 and by the rest of the British Commonwealth nations in 1834, resulting in Canada and the British Caribbean islands becoming magnets for freedom seekers from the United States. Indeed, after the 1850 passage of the second Fugitive Slave Act which required that United States citizens anywhere assist in the apprehension of runaways, Canada became the main safe haven for freedom seekers through the end of the Civil War.
No reliable method has been developed for estimating of the number of enslaved people who attempted to flee for their freedom, with the estimates running from the low five figures to seven figures and the true number very likely somewhere between, probably in the low to mid six figures. Also unknown is what proportion of those who broke for freedom attained it.
The reason for existence of the Underground Railroad vanished at the end of the Civil War with the abolition of slavery, though many of the former Underground Railroad routes and safe-houses must have continued to be used by people migrating north. It is likely, too, that these migrants continued to be assisted after 1865 by some of those who had served as Underground Railroad conductors and safe-house operators.
For 280 years, every American - black, white, Native American and others - was aware of the institution of slavery, that every enslaved person wanted to be free, that some would risk all to flee for freedom, and that some free people would risk all to aid freedom seekers in their quest. All Americans and Canadians were vividly aware of these things which therefore formed a deeply rooted part of the very consciousness of the two nations and an integrally woven part of the fabric of daily life. Thus, the long contest between freedom and slavery, between good and evil in North America, was, as author Fergus Bordewich puts it, the war for the soul of America. Indeed it was. It took 280 years - a very, very long time - to win this war, but won it was. The moral certitude, perseverance and courage of Underground Railroad safe-house operators and conductors but most especially of freedom seekers themselves delivered the continent from darkness.
The overwhelming majority of what transpired on the Underground Railroad was never recorded which makes the Underground Railroad of today especially dependent on the oral traditions handed down though families, property owners and others. Because most involved in the Underground Railroad were illiterate, because the entire operation was illegal, because those who had assisted freedom seekers could still be prosecuted after the Civil War and because many families were divided over the issue of slavery, much of the history of the Underground Railroad was forever lost, carried untold to the grave by the brave souls who had been the Underground Railroad.
What remains today through the oral traditions of handed-down accounts and, in many fewer cases, actual documentation almost entirely from northern states, is precious but dwindling as oral traditions continue to die out with the passing of descendants of freedom seekers, safe-house operators and conductors. Thus, it is vital to record and preserve intact Underground Railroad oral traditions while they remain with us and to assure that they are not pushed to back shelves to be forgotten by too much emphasis on the small fraction of Underground Railroad history and sites which are fortunate enough to be documented.
The following time line lists some of the important events of the Underground Railroad and abolitionism.
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Date |
Event |
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1585 |
First Africans brought to North America and enslaved at St. Augustine, Florida |
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Shortly after this |
Underground Railroad begins when some unknown aids first freedom seeker |
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February 18, 1688 |
Mennonites in North America oppose slavery, aid freedom seekers (Disputed) |
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1754 |
Quakers in North America condemn slavery, require manumission among Quakers |
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1775 |
First abolition society formed in Philadelphia |
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1780 |
Methodist Church in America states that slavery contradicts laws of God and man |
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1780 to 1786 |
Nine northern states abolish slavery and/or legislate emancipation |
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November 20, 1786 |
George Washington writes of his acting as a slave catcher |
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1787 |
Rev. Absalom Jones, Rev. Richard Allen form Independent Free African Society |
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July 13, 1787 |
Northwest Ordinance bans slavery in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin |
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1787 |
Presbyterian Church of America condemns slavery, begins promoting abolition |
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June 21, 1788 |
United States Constitution ratified, fails to deal with slavery |
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November, 1788 |
George Washington, an enslaver from Virginia, elected president |
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1789 |
Baptist Church of Virginia condemns slavery, urges abolition |
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November, 1796 |
John Adams, only abolitionist among main Founders, elected president |
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1808 |
United States outlaws further importation of slaves |
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June 14, 1811 |
Harriet Beecher Stowe, future author of Uncle Toms Cabin, born in Connecticut |
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1816 |
African Methodist Episcopal Church founded, opposes slavery, aids fugitives |
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February, 1818 |
Frederick Douglass, national hero, born enslaved on the Maryland eastern shore |
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Probably 1822 |
Harriet Tubman, national heroine, born enslaved on the Maryland eastern shore |
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1827 |
John Russworm and Samuel Cornish, black journalists, publish Freedom's Journal |
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1828 |
Russworm and Cornish publish The Rights of All, first black abolitionist periodical |
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1830 |
James and Lucretia Mott form Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society |
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January 1, 1831 |
William Lloyd Garrison, 26, publishes first issue of his anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator. Continues publication until Thirteenth Amendment is passed in 1865. |
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August 21, 1831 |
Nat Turner Rebellion in North Carolina alarms South, emboldens abolitionists |
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1831 |
William Lloyd Garrison, others, form New England Anti-Slavery Society |
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1831 |
Arthur and Lewis Tappan form the National Anti-Slavery Society in New York |
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1830s |
Vigilance committees formed in northern cities to prevent return of fugitive slaves |
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1830s |
Network aiding freedom seekers first takes on the name Underground Railroad |
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June 17, 1833 |
Detroit Riots rescue Lucie and Thornton Blackburn from jail and slave catchers |
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August 1, 1833 |
Great Britain abolishes slavery throughout its worldwide Commonwealth. Canada becomes magnet for United States freedom seekers |
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1830s, 1840s |
Some other European powers abolish slavery at home and in their colonies |
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1849 |
Harriet Tubman escapes enslavement |
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Beginning in 1850s |
Philadelphia businessman and safe-house operator William Still begins recording accounts of freedom seekers who he assists |
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1850-1859 |
Harriet Tubman makes at least nine successful rescues of Maryland freedom seekers. "Never lost a passenger." |
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September 18, 1850 |
Fugitive Slave Act passed requiring US citizens to aid in capturing freedom seekers |
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April 1, 1852 |
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe published, sells a record 500,000 copies in months, same number abroad in two years. First international best-seller. |
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September 11, 1851 |
Blacks in Christiana, Pennsylvania, run off slave catchers, kill leader, alarm South |
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Between 1831 and 1865 |
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company sued for aiding freedom seekers |
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March 6, 1857 |
Dred Scott decision, authored by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, strips blacks free and enslaved of citizenship |
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October 16, 1859 |
Abolitionist John Brown seizes federal armory at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia |
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December 2, 1859 |
John Brown hanged in Charlestown, West Virginia (then Virginia) |
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By 1860 |
Of the 33 states, 18 no longer permit slavery |
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March, 1861 |
Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as 16th president. Southern states begin seceding |
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April 12, 1861 |
Fort Sumter fired on, Civil War begins |
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January 1, 1863 |
Emancipation Proclamation promulgated abolishing slavery in Confederate states |
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July, 1863 |
Working as a Union scout, Harriet Tubman in a single week frees more than 750 enslaved people along Combahee River in South Carolina |
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May 26, 1865 |
Civil War ends |
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December 6, 1865 |
Thirteenth Amendment outlaws slavery, with Mississippi the only dissenting state |
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1872 |
William Still authors The Underground Railroad recounting 190 accounts of over 900 freedom seekers he had aided |
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February 20, 1895 |
Frederick Douglass dies |
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July 1, 1896 |
Harriet Beecher Stowe dies |
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March 10, 1913 |
Harriet Tubman, national heroine, dies at her home in Auburn, New York |
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May 4 to July 6, 1996 |
Anthony Cohen walks Maryland-to-Canada route of his freedom seeker ancestor. October, 1996, Smithsonian article on walk sparks Underground Railroad interest. |
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1998 |
Congress authorizes creation of Network to Freedom, an Underground Railroad program within the National Park Service |
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August, 2004 |
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a $110,000,000 museum on the Underground Railroad, opens in Cincinnati |
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September 17, 2004 |
Friends of the Underground Railroad, Inc., a private international organization promoting Underground Railroad history and restoration, is incorporated |
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January, 2006 |
Bethesda, Maryland, cabin where Josiah Henson was enslaved and which lent itself to title of Uncle Toms Cabin saved from developers by public purchase |
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July 15, 2006 |
Underground Railroad Free Press, first independent news outlet, first publishes |
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September, 2007 |
Friends of the Network to Freedom Association, a private-sector support group for the National Park Service's Network to Freedom program is formed. |
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January 15, 2008 |
Underground Railroad Free Press announces annual prizes for contemporary Underground Railroad leadership, preservation and advancement of knowledge |
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September 15, 2008 |
First Underground Railroad Free Press Prizes awarded. Click here to see the 2008 winners.
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Where to Visit Underground Railroad SitesClick here to go to the Google national map of Underground Railroad safe-houses and routes.
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Past Issues of Underground Railroad Free Press
2009 July [forthcoming]
2008
2007
2006 July [First issue]
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The Annual Free Press Underground Railroad Surveys Read or Download the Report of an Underground Railroad Survey To the best of our knowledge, the Underground Railroad Free Press 2007 Underground Railroad Survey was the first survey administered to the international Underground Railroad community. We are pleased to commission these annual surveys and provide them at no cost to all interested. You are welcome to download a survey report and distribute it as you like, and we hope that you find these surveys and reports of good use in your Underground Railroad work. We would be pleased to answer any questions you might have about a Free Press Underground Railroad survey or report and we welcome suggestions about future surveys. We can be reached at 301.874.0235 or publisher@urrFreePress.com. Click below to view or download an Underground Railroad survey report.
2009 Free Press Underground Railroad Survey Report [forthcoming in June]
2008 Free Press Underground Railroad Survey Report
2007 Free Press Underground Railroad Survey Report
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DatebookTo
have event of your organization listed on Datebook, email the name of the
sponsoring organization, the event description, venue, dates and contact
information to us at datebook@urrFreePress.com. |
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Who |
What |
Where |
When In 2009 |
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Alling Coverlet Museum |
The largest collection of hand-woven coverlets in the United States |
Alling Coverlet Museum 132
Market StreetĮ
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Throughout 2009 |
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Underground Railroad Free Press prizes@urrFreePress.com
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2009 Free Press survey results published |
July,
2009, issue of Free Press |
July 15 |
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Gerrit Smith Estate National
Historic Landmark |
Gerrit Smith, Abe Lincoln, and the Emancipation Proclamation with Jack Baylis as Abraham Lincoln
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4543
Peterboro Road
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July 19, 2 PM |
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Ontario Black History Society http://www.blackhistorysociety.ca
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Canadian Emancipation Day |
Throughout Canada |
August 1 |
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Murphy Orchards |
Expressions
of Freedom: |
Murphy
Orchards, 2402 McClew Road, Burt, New York , 14028 |
Labor
Day,
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Underground Railroad Free Press prizes@urrFreePress.com
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2009 Underground Railroad Free Press prize winners announced |
September,
2009, issue of Free Press and in
the North American press |
September 15 |
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National Park Service Network to Freedom http://cr.nps.gov/ugrr and Friends of the Network to Freedom Association
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Third annual conference |
Indianapolis, Indiana |
September 16-19 |
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Who |
What |
Where |
When In 2010 |
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Underground
Railroad Free Press prizes@urrFreePress.com |
Call for nominations, 2010 Free Press Prizes |
January issue of Free Press |
January 15, 2010 |
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Scott
Ainslie in concert |
Call and Response: African and American Musical Traditions |
Grace
Episcopal Chapel |
February 20, 2010 |
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Underground Railroad Free Press prizes@urrFreePress.com |
2010 Underground Railroad Free Press prize winners announced |
September,
2010, issue of Free Press and in
the North American press |
September 15 |
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National Underground Railroad Freedom Center FreedomCenter.org |
Eighth
Annual National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Conference |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
Fall, 2010 |
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National
Park Service Network to Freedom http://cr.nps.gov/ugrr and Friends of the
Network to Freedom Association |
Third annual conference |
Topeka, Kansas |
Fall, 2010 |
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The Underground Railroad Free Press PrizesThe prizes are intended as the most esteemed honor bestowed in the Underground Railroad community. The purpose of the Underground Railroad Free Press prizes is to recognize and honor the most outstanding contributions to contemporary Underground Railroad work in leadership, preservation and advancement of knowledge. The prizes also promote awareness and appreciation of contemporary Underground Railroad work to the general public, governments and key decision-makers by publicizing prizes and winners. As the prizes recognize that the Underground Railroad was an international enterprise, prize eligibility is extended to individual and organizational nominees from any nation. Click here to view or download prize procedures. Click here for the Underground Railroad Free Press Panel of Judges. The Underground Railroad Free Press Prize for Leadership
> Click here to download a leadership nomination form. The Underground Railroad Free Press Prize for Preservation
> Click here to download a preservation nomination form. The Underground Railroad Free Press Prize for the Advancement of Knowledge
> Click here to download an advancement of knowledge nomination form. |
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The 2008 Winners of the Underground Railroad Free Press Prizes |
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Preservation Paul and Maryliz Stewart For rediscovering and restoring the Stephen Myers home in Albany, New York
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Leadership Dr. David A. Anderson For his lifelong work in rekindling the national memory of the Underground Railroad
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Advancement of Knowledge Thomas P. Calarco For his groundbreaking books revealing the Underground
Railroad from New York City |
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The 2009 Winners of the Underground Railroad Free Press Prizes To be announced in the September, 2009, issue of Underground Railroad Free Press. |
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The Underground Railroad Free Press Prize Panel of Judges |
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Fergus Bordewich Mr. Bordewich authored the highly acclaimed Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America, and is completing a book on the use of slavery in constructing the United States Capitol.
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Karolyn Smardz Frost Dr. Frost authored I've Got a Home In Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad named the best nonfiction book of 2007 by a Canadian author. An archeologist, she has served as the Canadian representative to the World Archaeological Congress and as the chief executive officer of the Ontario Historical Society.
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Lawrence Hall Canadian broadcast and print journalist Lawrence Hall descends from two Underground Railroad freedom seekers who fled the United States to Canada. He writes and lectures on black history, freedom seekers and the Underground Railroad in Canada.
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Hortense Simmons Dr. Simmons, a multiple Fulbright Scholar to Malaysia and Ukraine, sits on the board of Friends of the Underground Railroad, and is Professor Emerita of English at California State University, Sacramento. She has taught and published widely on race and gender issues, and lectures worldwide on these topics.
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Judith Wellman Dr. Wellman is president of Historical New York Research Associates which has identified many upstate New York Underground Railroad sites. She long served as Professor of History at the State University of New York, and is the developer of the Wellman Scale, now used widely in rating the authenticity of Underground Railroad sites.
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Wayne Young Mr. Young is publisher of Port of Harlem, a features magazine on contemporary African-American life. Based in Washington, DC, Port of Harlem has featured articles on the contemporary Underground Railroad. Visit the Port of Harlem web site at portofharlem.net.
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Use the Wellman Scale to Rate An Underground Railroad SiteDevelopment of the Wellman Scale To provide a clearer picture of what the Underground Railroad looked like in its time and to aid researchers in evaluating particular sites today, Judith Wellman, Professor Emerita of History at the State University of New York and President of Historical New York Research Associates, developed a five-point scale for evaluating and rating the likelihood that a claimed site was actually involved in the Underground Railroad. Her work in developing what has come to be known as the Wellman Scale was supported by grants from the National Park Service and the Preservation League of New York State.
The Wellman Scale is the definitive means for rating the likelihood that a site claiming Underground Railroad involvement actually was involved, and may also be used in rating Underground Railroad stories not involving sites. The Wellman Scale uses five ratings from doubtful to conclusive to estimate the likelihood of a site's Underground Railroad involvement. It has come to be used more or less exclusively by many contemporary Underground Railroad enthusiasts in rating sites and today is the accepted method for such ratings.
Application of Wellman Scale Ratings Following are Dr. Wellman's definitions of the five Wellman Scale ratings. Rate your site or sites accordingly. After you have done so, please list your site at MapMuse's international map of Underground Railroad sites. This is an easy process. Click in this sentence to go to the MapMuse web site.
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Level 1 |
Story probably not true Reason to doubt: a local oral tradition about the Underground Railroad with reason to believe that it is probably not true. Story assumed not true until proven otherwise.
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Level 2 |
Story possibly true No
reason to doubt but no evidence so far. Rating for sites and people linked
to local stories about involvement with the Underground Railroad that sound
reasonable yet lack corroborating evidence. Likely candidates include adult
African-Americans born in northern states and known members of abolitionist
churches. |
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Level 3 |
Good chance the story is true Abolitionist sympathies, abolitionism or African-American background but no direct evidence of Underground Railroad activity. Potential Underground Railroad affiliation backed by oral tradition and/or some evidence of abolitionist activity, e.g., antislavery society membership, signatures on antislavery petitions, antislavery church membership. African-American birth in the South or Canada suggests involvement.
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Level 4 |
Story almost certainly true. Considerable evidence of involvement. Oral traditions related to specific sources or to groups known to be sympathetic to freedom seekers or evidence of direct involvement with the Underground Railroad. High probability of Underground Railroad involvement but lacking direct primary source evidence. Strong written evidence from others coupled with a strong oral tradition make a compelling case for Underground Railroad involvement.
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Level 5 |
Story almost certainly true. Conclusive evidence of involvement. Persons or sites identified through oral histories or written sources corroborated specifically by at least one reliable primary source. Strong primary source evidence of Underground Railroad activity: stories about the Underground Railroad that are supported by a primary source recorded by someone who was actually involved. An obituary written by someone who knew the person may qualify as compelling evidence. |
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