National Underground Railroad Freedom Center [OH]

Description

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and seeks to tell the story of America's fight against slavery, and the Underground Railroad in particular.

The center offers exhibits, guided tours, field trip programs, professional development for teachers, and special events and presentations. The website offers information regarding upcoming special events, a history of the Underground Railroad, and visitor information. In order to contact the website via email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.

Historic Edenton [NC]

Description

Featuring 18th- and early 19th-century history, North Carolina's second oldest town Edenton was one of the fledgling nation's chief political, cultural, and commercial centers. The state's first colonial capital, it was established in the late 17th century and incorporated in 1722. Once its second largest port, Edenton provided slaves with a means of escape via the Maritime Underground Railroad before Emancipation. Today it features an extensive historic district with architectural styles spanning 250 years, such as the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse National Historic Landmark. Tours include historic sites such as the 1736 St. Paul's Church; the 1758 Cupola House; the 1782 Barker House; the Courthouse; and the 1773 James Iredell House.

The site offers a short film, exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Onondaga Historical Association Museum and Research Center [NY]

Description

The Onondaga Historical Association Museum and Research Center presents the history of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York. Museum permanent exhibits cover the Franklin Automobile; historic brewing; pottery manufacturing; the Underground Railroad; and county trades, transportation, architecture, settlement, and immigration. Collections include textiles, artwork, decorative arts, Native American artifacts, toys, and locally made commercial products.

The museum offers exhibits, research center access, research assistance, outreach presentations, and educational programs. Note that both research center usage and research assistance require payment. The website offers featured artifact information, a research library catalog, videos on topics of historical interest, children's activities, and an image database. The society also offers educator workshops.

Van Buren County Historical Society and Museums [IA]

Description

The Van Buren County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Van Buren County, Iowa. To this end, the society operates 1845 Pearson House, a residence and Underground Railroad site, the second floor of which served as a Methodist Church; the 1847 Ellis School; the Keosauqua Log Cabin; the Selma Cabin; and the Historical Society Museum. The museum is housed in the circa 1875 Twombly Building, which previously served as a post office, bakery, grocery store, newspaper headquarters, and clothing store.

The society offers period rooms and exhibits.

River Road African American Museum [LA]

Description

The River Road African American Museum presents the history of the African American population along the Mississippi River. Exhibits discuss cuisine, jazz, African American doctors and inventors, Louisiana's Underground Railroad, education, and other topics.

The museum offers exhibits; tours; a guided museum and neighborhood tour; a school tour drawing heavily upon art, music, and history with an optional scavenger hunt and/or storyteller; and educational programs on the Underground Railroad and plants which men and women seeking their freedom may have used for nourishment and medicine.

Smithfield Community Association and Gerrit Smith Estate [NY]

Description

The Smithfield Community Association manages the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark, lifelong residence of abolitionist and social reformer Gerrit Smith (1797–1874), and preserves this history of Petersboro, New York, a major Underground Railroad destination and site of the inaugural meeting of the NYS Anti-Slavery Society in 1835.

The association's offerings vary. Please check Upcoming Events. Examples include Civil War living history, lectures, and Gerrit Smith Estate building tours.

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History [MI]

Description

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History presents the history and culture of African Americans and their points of origin within Africa. It is is the world's largest institution dedicated to the African American experience. The museum boasts over 30,000 artifacts and archives, including major Underground Railroad and Detroit labor movement collections. Permanent exhibits include a historical overview of the African American experience, an interactive alphabet exhibit, and several large–scale works of art.

The museum offers exhibits; living history tours; tours led by museum educators; self–guided tours; workshops; films; live performances; lectures; a research library; a summer teacher's institute; and a designated dining area with sandwich, fruit, and beverage vending. Reservations are required for school groups, and the museum offers pizza and soda for an additional fee. The website offers a list of Michigan educational standards which correspond to traveling and permanent exhibits; a Martin Luther King, Jr. activity book; and an Internet treasure hunt.

Rokeby Museum [VT]

Description

Rokeby Museum is a 90-acre historic site and National Historic Landmark that was home to a remarkable Quaker family from 1793 to 1961. From early settlers to radical abolitionists to distinguished artists and writers, each generation of Robinsons left its mark on the site, the state, and the country. Rokeby was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 for its unsurpassed underground railroad history. The Museum's mission is to "connect visitors with the human experience of the underground railroad and with the Robinson family, who lived on and farmed this land for nearly 200 years." We ofter a primary source document-based underground railroad program both on site and in the classroom as well as two kits exploring abolitionist history. The site includes a fully furnished Federal style house, eight historic farm buildings, and acres of hiking trails

Levi Coffin Home State Historic Site [IN]

Description

The Levi Coffin Home was a stop on the Underground Railroad in the years preceding the civil war, and treats visitors to a tour of Indiana history through hidden doors, false-bottomed wagons, and other methods used to hide escaped slaves. This brick house in Newport, Indiana, was the home to Levi and Catherine Coffin, North Carolina Quakers who opposed slavery and helped more than 2,000 slaves reach safety.

The site offers very minimal information for visitors regarding the house.