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Events
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HARRISBURG (PA) CEMETERY TOUR, SEPTEMBER 12, 2004
The Camp Curtin Historical Society is sponsoring cemetery tours on Sunday,
September 12, 2004, with a special African American History Tour, led by
Afrolumens' George Nagle at 1:30. The African American tour "will explore
the relationships of some of those buried in the cemetery with the local
and state-wide African American community. Many of those whose gravesites I
am including on the tour were anti-slavery or Underground Railroad
activists. Such as:
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Charles Coatesworth Rawn. Helped author and signed an
1837 petition to Congress supporting colonization but changed his views
after 1850 when he joined with local lawyer Mordecai McKinney (also on the
tour) to defend apprehended freedom seekers in hearings before the federal
slave commissioner.
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Theophilus Fenn. New England born Harrisburg newspaper
editor whose increasingly bitter denunciations in the Harrisburg
"Telegraph" of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act and its local agent, Federal
Slave Commissioner Richard McAllister, led to political disaster and
resignation for McAllister in 1853.
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Judge John J. Pearson. President Judge
of the 12th Judicial District. Presided over Harrisburg's most famous
"Fugitive Slave riot" trial in 1850 on the eve of the passage of the
Fugitive Slave Act and saw his ruling effectively overturned by the Act. He
is rumored to have passed on tips regarding slave-catching activity to
Joseph Bustill.
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William Henry Egle. Local historian who included African
American citizens in his published histories. Served as a surgeon with
116th U.S.C.T. regiment during the Civil War.
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Dr. William Wilson
Rutherford. His Front Street home in Harrisburg is one of the few
unquestioned URR sites in Harrisburg. Local lore says his family was active
in aiding freedom seekers as early as 1810."
The African-American History tour is one of a series of cemetery tours on
Sunday, September 12, 2004. Other tours begin at 12:30, 1:00 and 2:00, to
"Visit the graves and hear the stories of numerous personalities and
government officials who influenced local, state, and national events" with
special reference to the Civil War. There is a fee for the tours. For
information, e-mail [email protected].
Harrisburg Cemetery is located at
the eastern end of State Street Bridge, north two blocks on 13th Street.
Thanks to George F. Nagle, Editor, Afrolumens Project for this information.
For further information on the Afrolumens Project, focusing on
African-American history in central Pennsylvania and the Underground
Railroad, visit their web site: http://www.afrolumens.org/]
[From a PRESS ADVISORY]
August 24, 2004
For Immediate Release
Event: Friends of the Underground Railroad Gathering - Baltimore, MD
Contact: Louis C. Fields, 410-783-5469, President, African American Tourism
Council of MD, Inc., Email: [email protected]
Baltimore. On September 3, 1838, Frederick Douglass, a Maryland Slave,
escaped from slavery in Fells Point, Baltimore to freedom in the north via
the Underground Railroad. To mark the 166th anniversary of this historic
event, September 2004 has been proclaimed as Freedom & Heritage Month in
the city of Baltimore. The Friends of the Underground Railroad [FOUGRR] and
members of the National Park Service's Network to Freedom Program are
gathering in the city of Baltimore during Underground Railroad Week,
September 13-18, 2004.
Public events scheduled for Friday, September 17 include an Underground
Railroad Tour from 1:00-4:30pm. Interested persons are to meet at the
Orchard Street Church at 12:30pm for boarding instructions. Also on Friday,
September 17 [7:00pm-10:00pm], a VIP Freedom & Heritage Month Reception
will be held at the Wyndham Hotel in downtown Baltimore. Tickets for the
tour and the reception are available by contacting Mr. Fields at the above
address.
On Saturday, September 18, 2004 the general public is invited to attend a
free Underground Railroad Seminar which will include exhibits, panel
discussions, and information on documenting Underground Railroad sites. The
seminar will be held from 9:00-12:00 noon at the Wyndham Hotel, 101 W.
Fayette Street, downtown Baltimore.
Joining Elizabeth Rankin-Fulher, the President of the Friends of the
Underground Railroad will be FOUGRR board members and Underground Railroad
enthusiasts from Kansas, Ohio, Delaware, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, DC and Virginia are expected to attend
the Underground Railroad Gathering. The Wyndham Hotel are offering a
special discounted room rate of $99.00 plus tax for attendees. For
additional information, please contact me at the numbers or email address
listed above.
JOURNAL OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY: ARTICLES
ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
The Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical
Society,
Volume 22, Number 2 (2004), is a special issue, "Telling the Rest of the
Story - The Underground Railroad," Sylvia Polk-Burris, Editor. Articles in
this issue include: "Many Untold Stories", Jenny Masur; "Racism in the
North During the Abolition Period", Tom Calarco; "Friends and Freedmen:
Historical Geography of the Underground Railroad in Central Delaware",
Bradley Skelcher; "The Role of African Americans in the Underground
Railroad Network in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania", William J. Switala; "John W.
Jones and Friends: The Origins of the Underground Railroad in Elmira, New
York", Carole Knowlton; "The Michigan Freedom Trail", Carol E. Mull; "A
Meeting of the Colored Citizens of Milwaukee, 1850", Ruby West Jackson and
Walter T. MacDonald; "Peter and Nancy Hudlin's Underground Railroad
Station", Richard A. Hudlin; "The Underground Railroad and Uniontown,
Pennsylvania," Ronald D. Palmer; "The Escape Narrative of Peter Stokes",
Gary L. Knepp; "The Long Island Freedom Trail", Kathleen G. Velsor; "Samuel
Parsons: A Long Island Quaker and the Anti-Slavery Struggle", James
Driscoll; "Luther Donnell --Decatur County, Indiana's Great Enemy of
Slavery", Mary E. Donnell Mitchell; "Beyond the Underground Railroad:
Freedom Passions That Prevailed", Linda Cousins; "Crossing Over: The
Rankins of Ripley, Ohio", Adam Rankin and Elizabeth Rankin; "In My
Great-Great Grandfather's Voice", Cynthia A. Wilson; "Resources on
Underground Railroad Projects and Websites"
The Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical
Society,
Volume 21, Number 1 (2003), Volume 22, Number 1 (2003), includes "The
Underground Railroad in Kent County, Delaware: A Practice in
Self-Determination," by Patsy M. Fletcher.
For information, see the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
website at: http://www.aahgs.org/
[Thanks to Ronald Palmer for bringing these valuable publications to my
attention.]
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
Dickinson College has published two of the papers from their February 2003
on The Underground Railroad in South Central Pennsylvania: Matt Pinkser,
"William Still and the History of the Underground Railroad," and Scott
Hancock, "Crossing Freedom's Front Line: The Underground Railroad in South
Central Pennsylvania."
ERIE CANAL AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD DVD/VIDEO AVAILABLE
Tales of the Underground Railroad: On the Erie Canal, a documentary
focusing on "The political, economical, historical and geographical
elements that drew fugitive slave activity to the Great Lakes and the Erie
Canal, including the commercial slip which connected the canal with the
Buffalo's Inner Harbor. Documented locations and fugitive slave cases on
the Erie Canal and Buffalo waterfront, and the difficulty inherent in
documenting sites believed to have been Underground Railroad stations, such
as Dug's Dive in the Union Block, a building on the commercial slip whose
foundation is being excavated."
The documentary was recently aired on public television in the Buffalo, New
York, area, and features interviews with a number of researchers,
historical reenactments, with historical documents and images.
For information, go to www.historicaltales.com
URR NEWS IS AN INFORMAL E-MAIL LIST PREPARED BY CHRISTOPHER DENSMORE,
FRIENDS HISTORICAL LIBRARY, SWARTHMORE COLLEGE.
This issue of URR News is being posted on August 26, 2004.
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