Harriet Beecher Stowe House [OH]

Description

The Harriet Beecher Stowe House is operated as an historical and cultural site, focusing on Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The site also includes a look into the family, friends, and colleagues of the Beecher-Stowe family; Lane Seminary; and the abolitionist, women's rights, and Underground Railroad movements in which these historical figures participated in the 1830s to 1860s, as well as African-American history related to these movements. The house was home to Harriet Beecher Stowe prior to her marriage and to her father, Rev. Lyman Beecher, and his large family, a prolific group of religious leaders, educators, writers, and antislavery and women's rights advocates. The Beecher family includes Harriet's sister, Catherine Beecher, an early female educator and writer who helped found numerous high schools and colleges for women; brother Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, a leader of the women's suffrage movement and considered by some to be the most eloquent minister of his time; General James Beecher, a Civil War general who commanded the first African-American troops in the Union Army recruited from the South; and sister Isabella Beecher Hooker, a women's rights advocate. The Beechers lived in Cincinnati for nearly 20 years, from 1832 to the early 1850s, before returning East.

The house offers exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational programs and events.

Rankin House [OH]

Description

The Rankin House was an important stop on the Underground Railroad in southern Ohio through which many slaves escaped from the South to freedom. John Rankin was a Presbyterian minister and educator who devoted much of his life to the antislavery movement. In 1826 he published his antislavery book, Letters on American Slavery. In 1834 he founded the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society in Zanesville. From 1825 to 1865, Rankin and his wife Jean, with their Brown County neighbors, sheltered more than 2,000 slaves escaping to freedom, with as many as 12 escapees being hidden in the Rankin home at one time. The house, a National Historic Landmark, is included in the National Underground Railroad to Freedom Network. Outside is a reconstruction of the stairway used by slaves to climb from the Ohio River to the Rankin House.

The house offers tours and educational programs.

Freedom Bound: The Underground Railroad in Lycoming County, PA

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Photo, Caves, Lycoming County, PA
Annotation

An interactive site on the Underground Railroad in Lycoming County, PA. Users go to a map of the environs near Williamsport dotted with 13 relevant locations. Clicking on a location brings up images and streaming audio testimony from oral historian Mamie Sweeting Diggs, who details their significance using stories passed down from her great grandfather, Daniel Hughes, an agent and conductor on the railroad.

A river raftsman, Hughes brought logs down the Susquehanna River to Maryland, and then returned leading slaves on foot through a mountain trail. Slaves hid in warehouses, caves, and Hughes's own home. Helped by Hughes and his cohorts, the slaves headed for nearby Freedom Road, from which they would travel to Canada by foot or train.

More than 50 photographs and prints document the places where the story took place. Diggs relates four additional stories from Hughes. This site succeeds in illuminating the workings of the Underground Railroad.

Open Yale Courses aharmon Thu, 06/23/2011 - 13:52
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Photo, Professor Joanne B. Freeman, Open Yale Courses
Annotation

Yale University has made a sampling of their courses available for listeners, viewers, and readers.

As of writing, the history subsection contains six courses—two of which relate directly to U.S. history ("The American Revolution" and "The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877") and one which touches on relevant issues, "Epidemics and Western Society Since 1600." Each of these courses offers links to individual pages for each lecture. Lecture pages contain short text overviews of the topic at hand; a list of any reading which was required for the day; and links to lecture audio, video, and transcriptions.

Our site links you directly to the Yale's history courses. However, consider exploring other topics as well. Maybe a lecture on Roman architecture will give you background for discussing monuments in Washington, DC, or an economics course will give you a new way of thinking about the American Revolution. Interdisciplinary possibilities are endless.

Free Blacks in the Antebellum North

Description

James O. Horton of George Washington University discusses the abolitionist views and activities of free blacks in the antebellum U.S., including reactions to the Fugitive Slave Law and participation in the Underground Railroad.

To view this clip, select "Free Blacks in the Antebellum North" under "African-American Experience Video."

John Brown Museum

Description

Reverend Samuel Adair and his wife, Florella, were peaceful abolitionists who came to Kansas and settled near Osawatomie, an abolitionist community and a center of conflict during "Bleeding Kansas." The Adair cabin was a station on the Underground Railroad and Florella's half brother, John Brown, used this cabin as his headquarters. The cabin survived the Battle of Osawatomie where John Brown and 30 free-state defenders fought 250 proslavery militia in 1856, and stands on the battle site today. Visitors to the Museum can learn more about the Adairs, John Brown, and others who struggled to survive the border war.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and occasional educational and recreational events.

The Milton House Museum

Description

"Pioneer, Joseph Goodrich, came to Prairie du Lac, as Milton was called then, in 1838, looking for a better place for his family to live. He chose prairie land at the intersection of two Indian trails and built a small frame home. In the years to come, this prairie crossroads became heavily traveled and this seemed a good place for an inn. All were welcome under Joseph's roof, but not all of his guests traveled by stagecoach or train. Some were spirited into his care by the Underground Railroad.

Visit us--have a look back into the past."

Queens Historical Society and Museum [NY]

Description

The Queens Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Queens, New York City. To this end, the society operates a museum, library, and archive. The museum of Queens history is located within the colonial Kingsland Homestead. A permanent exhibit within the museum addresses the history of the homestead itself.

The society offers exhibits, Kingsland Homestead tours for students, walking tours, lectures, slide presentations, and library access. Appointments are required for library access and for group tours. The website offers information on the society's teaching aids, which are available for purchase.

Pultneyville Historical Society and Museum [NY]

Description

The Pultneyville Historical Society seeks to preserve and present the history of Williamson Township, New York. To this end, the society offers exhibits within a circa 1858 home. Exhibits address the life and work of Horatio Nelson Throop, the 1898 loss of the schooner St. Peter, and local history as depicted through photography. Throop was a boat builder and captain. In the 1830s, he conducted experiments with wind and screw propeller propulsion systems. He was also active in the Underground Railroad. The society owns a collection of artifacts recovered from the wreck of the St. Peter.

The society offers exhibits and archival access. Appointments are required for archival access.