The Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State has announced the formation of a new committee, focusing on archives and oral histories with the goal of identifying archival materials related to the Underground Railroad in New York State. [Read more…] about Underground Railroad Survey Seeks To Identify Local Collections
Underground Railroad
Anna Murray-Douglass: Frederick’s Most Important Ally
I offer the following tribute to Anna Douglass, first wife of Frederick Douglass and mother of their five children, on the anniversary of her death Aug. 4, 1882:
Both Frederick Bailey and Anna Murray were born in rural Maryland in the early 1800s and grew up under harsh racist customs that strictly defined roles for men and women by sex, race and class.
By the time Frederick and Anna met in the 1830s in Baltimore, his owner valued him as a slave who was a skilled caulker. Yet Anna, despite being a free woman skilled as a domestic and cook, was not well paid by her white employers. [Read more…] about Anna Murray-Douglass: Frederick’s Most Important Ally
Commemoration of Slavery’s End in NYS Being Planned
The Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State has announced the formation of a statewide committee to begin planning for the bicentennial of the legal abolition of slavery in New York, which finally took effect on July 4, 1827, following what was called “gradual emancipation” that began nearly 30 years before. [Read more…] about Commemoration of Slavery’s End in NYS Being Planned
Slavery and Resistance in New York Podcast
The latest episode of A New York Minute In History, explores slavery in New York and specifically the resistance to the institution, including the Underground Railroad.
Co-hosts Devin Lander and Lauren Roberts speak with area experts and tour a historic home in Albany that is living a new life as a museum depicting the history of its previous occupants. [Read more…] about Slavery and Resistance in New York Podcast
Peter Feinman On National Underground RR Conference
The National Park Service/National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom (NTF) Conference was held September 11-14, 2019, in Niagara Falls. The title of the conference was “Crossings: Bridging the Authentic Underground Railroad Past to the Present.” The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) was a partner. [Read more…] about Peter Feinman On National Underground RR Conference
Harriet the Movie and the Harriet Tubman of History
I like the movie Harriet, especially the singing, but again, I also liked Wonder Woman, Black Panther, Wolverine, and Dr. Strange (but not Thor, Aquaman, or the Avengers series). Harriet the movie is about a super-hero whose superpower is that God gives her specific directions about what to do (turn left at the river).
Harriet in the movie is based on an important historical figure, but in the end, she is a movie character, not the historic Harriet Tubman. As a movie, two-thumbs up; as history, too many rotten tomatoes. [Read more…] about Harriet the Movie and the Harriet Tubman of History
Underground Railroad Consortium Wins National Award
At the national Underground Railroad training event held at Niagara University in Niagara Falls on September 11 – 14, the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State (URCNYS) received the Robert G. Stanton Award for Network to Freedom (NTF) Partners.
The award was named after Robert G. Stanton who was sworn in as the National Park Service’s 15th director on August 4, 1997, as the first African American director and the first director to go through the Senate confirmation process. [Read more…] about Underground Railroad Consortium Wins National Award
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. [Read more…] about National Underground Railroad Training Registration Open
Underground Railroad History Training Event Planned
A national Underground Railroad training event has been set for September 11-14, 2019 at Niagara University in Niagara Falls, NY. The theme for this training is Crossings: Bridging the Authentic Underground Railroad Past to the Present. [Read more…] about Underground Railroad History Training Event Planned
Harriet Tubman A Focus in Peterboro August 3rd
The Tenth Annual Peterboro Emancipation Days have been set for August 3rd, at 9:30 am, at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark, 5304 Oxbow Road in Peterboro.
Interior and exterior exhibits will be open including information on black freedom seekers who passed through Peterboro on their way to Canada, who stayed in Peterboro for lifetimes, who lived in Peterboro while working in the abolition movement, who served in the Civil War, and who came for an education at the Manual Labor School. There are also exhibits on the Underground Railroad, Gerrit Smith, and Greene Smith. [Read more…] about Harriet Tubman A Focus in Peterboro August 3rd