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State-to-State Survey of Underground Railroad Activities

American Visions, Feb, 1999 by Ann E. Eskridge

Celebrations, workshops and tours commemorating the Underground Railroad can already be found in various states (see sidebar.) If the recent federal legislation succeeds in focusing greater attention on--and gaining more fiscal support for--Underground Railroad initiatives, the resulting network of landmarks, trails and interpretive programs could be one of the most important in the world. Every effort--like every station on the Freedom Train--deserves our gratitude and vigilant support. Some of the Underground Railroad activities in various states are described below.

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On October 30, 1997, the New York Legislature passed a bill establishing a commission on the New York State Freedom Trail. A panel of 12 members is preparing a study to serve as a blueprint for the yet-to-be-appointed commission.

"The tactic we are taking," explains Howard Dodson, chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and chairman of the Freedom Trail panel, "is that the Freedom Trail should not be driven, exclusively, by the presence--or lack of presence--of standing physical properties.

"We are looking at doing several things. One is the placing of Underground Railroad activities into the context of the broader freedom struggle initiatives that took place in New York state, dating back to the beginning of slavery. Second, we are trying to look not only at standing physical properties, but at personalities and events. Third, we want to place our primary focus on the enslaved Africans who initiated these freedom-seeking activities."

In addition to the statewide commission, Underground Railroad initiatives are developing on New York's county and regional levels. Says Dodson, "There is a lot of grassroots activity taking place in the state, building on the federal legislation, but particularizing it to New York."

The Michigan Legislature passed Public Act 409 in December 1998 to create a Freedom Trail Commission, which will oversee the research, documentation and interpretation of the Underground Railroad. Working with the commission will be the Michigan Underground Railroad Collaborative, a group of three organizations--the Michigan Historical Center, the Black History Network, and the Underground Railroad Association--formed in January 1998 to preserve and promote the Underground Railroad story.

Michigan's legislation was proposed by State Representative Samuel Buzz Thomas III, a descendent of two of Detroit's first Underground Railroad conductors, Joseph Ferguson and William Webb. "I introduced the legislation establishing the Freedom Trail Commission as a tribute to my history and to the noble history of Michigan," said Thomas at a news conference held at one of Detroit's Underground Railroad sites, Second Baptist Church.

In 1995, the Connecticut General Assembly authorized the establishment of the Connecticut Freedom Trail. The trail will include Underground Railroad sites, as well as locations significant to the Amistad trial of 1841. Twenty-six locations within the state make up the trail, which is described in the brochure Sites That Represent the Concept Freedom.

Under phase II of the Pennsylvania Heritage Tourism Initiative, which is administered by the Pennsylvania Federation of Museum and Historical Organizations, a three-day, two-night Underground Railroad tour through Philadelphia and Lancaster has been developed. Pennsylvania also offers other tours of its numerous historic sites, landmarks, and special collections related to the Underground Railroad.

Chester, Lancaster and Philadelphia counties have many Underground Railroad sites, most of which are churches, homes of abolitionists and Underground Railroad conductors, cemeteries and parks, as well as other historic dwellings.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center hopes to open in 2003. The planned center will be a museum of reflection, touching the heart as well as the mind by using powerful experiences to inspire a new understanding of history. An extensive national education center and distributive museum will focus on the cooperation of enslaved and free African Americans, sympathetic whites and American Indians who helped fugitive slaves escape.

In Missouri, the MidAmerica Multicultural Travel and Tourism Network holds an annual forum and awards ceremony to inform people about aspects of the Underground Railroad. "This year, the forum focused on preserving Underground Railroad sites and brought in a number of national speakers," says network spokesperson Anita Dixon-Andrews. She explains that the awards ceremony honors local, regional and national individuals and organizations "who have demonstrated the spirit of the Underground Railroad in their present-day work."

The Vermont General Assembly authorized funding in 1995 for a report on the Underground Railroad, and in 1997, a follow-up study was done, which traced the course of runaways from Vermont into eastern Canada. The results of these reports will be used to develop a self-guided tour.

State-to-State Survey of Underground Railroad Activities

American Visions, Feb, 1999 by Ann E. Eskridge

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