National Underground Railroad Training Registration Open

Registrations are now open for the National Park Service Network to Freedom Underground Railroad Training in Niagara Falls, set for September 11 through 14, 2019.

Each half day of the Thursday and Friday event days will commence with a keynote speaker addressing one of the themes of the training. The keynotes are followed by five best practices or case studies that relate to the theme, and then the audience is further formed into small groups for discussion.

After the morning history keynote at 9 am on Thursday, September 12, history Case Studies will be presented from 10 to 11 am: The Cataract House and the Underground Railroad in Niagara Falls: History, Archaeology, and Transnationalism, Three Underground Railroads in Three Centuries, Native Americans and the Underground Railroad, Negro Fort at Prospect Bluff FL, and Along the Canadian Border. Small group discussions will follow at 11:15.

After the Thursday afternoon Authenticity keynote at 1:30 pm, Best Practices and Case Studies focusing on Authenticity will begin at 2:30 pm: Documenting the Underground Railroad in New York State, African American Community, Slavery, Sanctuary, Sacrifice: An African American Community in Rural Upstate New York Reclaims its Voice, Ohio as Haven and Anti-Slavery Battleground, and Authenticity in Documenting and Telling the Story. At 3:45 pm small group discussions begin.

On Friday morning, September 13 after the 9 am keynote on Heritage Tourism and Economic Development, the Case Studies will begin at 10 am: How Living History Presentations Enrich Underground Railroad History, Designing Tours of the Underground Railroad, Capturing the Public Imagination, Is the Underground Railroad and Abolition Heritage of Peterboro Relevant Today? and Crossing the Dorchester Landscape with Stories and Photos of Harriet Tubman’s Native Land. Small group discussions follow at 11:15.

Friday afternoon the 1:30 keynote on Community Engagement, Relevance, and Legacy will be followed at 2:30 pm with Best Practices and Case Studies: Surviving Off the Land: The “From Slavery to Freedom” Garden, Keeping the History Alive – Underground Railroad Consortium of NYS, “Rocking the Cradle:” Anthony Burns’ Boston, and The Modern Legacy of Oppression and Community Commemorations. Small group discussions begin at 3:45 pm.

Registration and more information can be found online.