Underground Railroad

The Heroes of Ripley, Ohio

by David Goodrich

David Goodrich bicycled 3,000 miles along the routes of the Underground Railroad, encountering the places of history from a new perspective. This excerpt follows him through the Ohio-Kentucky borderland and across the river that marked free territory. 

Some Escaped Slavery Without Escaping the South

by Viola Franziska Müller

The majority of people escaping slavery before Emancipation never crossed the Mason-Dixon line, finding a measure of freedom in southern cities. 

William Still Preserved the Black History of Abolition at a Time of Danger

by Julia W. Bernier

After emancipation, the meticulous records William Still kept about the fellow Black people he helped to reach freedom became a tool in a different struggle: to fight against the erasure of Black humanity and power by proponents of Jim Crow and the Lost Cause. 

William Still: Forgotten Father of the Underground Railroad

by Andrew Diemer

William Still died in 1902 as one of the most famous and well-respected Black men in America. But since, the quiet nature of his work and his preference to preserve the stories of the individuals he helped to find freedom have diminished his standing among abolitionist heroes. 

Maryland Governor Proclaims Year of Harriet Tubman

Governor Larry Hogan observed the 200th anniversary of the birth of the famed freedom fighter and encouraged visitors to state and federal sites in the state that preserve the history of slavery and the Underground Railroad. 

'The Underground Railroad' and History: Eric Foner

Eric Foner discusses the historical background of the new series based on Colson Whitehead's novel. 

Harriet Tubman's Lost Maryland Home Found, Say Archaeologists

State archaeologists discovered remains of a cabin that evidence suggests belonged to Ben Ross, and where the woman who would be known as Harriet Tubman lived for a period of time as a child. 

The Constitution and the Underground Railroad: How a System of Government Dedicated to Liberty Protected Slavery

by Paul Finkelman

"As we celebrate Constitution Day, it is important to remember that this document protected slavery and set the stage for the federal government to hunt down and arrest people, whose only crime was the color of their skin and their desire to benefit from “the Blessings of Liberty” that the Constitution claimed it was written to achieve."

This one-of-a-kind conference celebrates the real people behind the Underground Railroad

The gathering at Temple is totally free and open to the public.

Harriet Tubman and a National Legacy of Midnight Skies and Silent Stars

by Todd Lookingbill

The Oscar buzz around the film and the popularity of the biopic with critics and general audiences alike creates an opportunity to discuss and shine a light on the important landscape associated with this amazing historical figure. 

What Dreams of Canada Tell Us About Race in America

by April Rosenblum

At a time when American casualties in Vietnam were disproportionately African American, most of those who successfully made it to Canada to resist the draft were white.

6 Strategies Harriet Tubman and Others Used to Escape Along the Underground Railroad

From elaborate disguises to communicating in code to fighting back, enslaved people found multiple paths to freedom.

African American Women's Work in the Underground Railroad Beyond Harriet Tubman

by Jazma Sutton

African American women, arguably the most vulnerable group in antebellum America, used every means at their disposal to escape slavery, liberate family members, assist in others’ self-liberation, and hold on to whatever measure of freedom they had achieved. 

The Native Americans Who Assisted the Underground Railroad

by Roy E. Finkenbine

Studying the role of Native Americans in assisting freedom seekers in the pre-Civil War Midwest requires the historian to assemble an archive from a range of disparate sources.  

What Popular Histories Often Get Wrong About the Underground Railroad

by Roy E. Finkenbine

Underground Railroad activists and fugitive slaves had to improvise in response to ever-shifting circumstances.

Underground Railroad Safe House Discovered in Philadelphia

Preservationists say they have identified the home of famed black abolitionist William Still, who offered refuge to hundreds of freedom seekers.

This underground railroad took slaves to freedom in Mexico

Slaves in the US famously took the underground railroad north into free states and Canada, but a similar path existed to the south into Mexico.

The Perilous Lure of the Underground Railroad

by Kathryn Schulz

Hardly anyone used it, but it provides us with moral comfort—and white heroes.

Latest Hollywood Trend? Underground Railroad Chic.

by Roy E. Finkenbine

What’s wrong with that? Too often glitz trumps historical fact.

The Secret History of the Underground Railroad

by Adam Goodheart

Eric Foner explores how it really worked.