Underground Railroad sites receive special attention
James Glass
October 4, 2008
In communities across the North, people have long talked about the Underground Railroad.
Many legends grew up about the routes used to guide escaping slaves to freedom, the locations of stations along the railroad, and the identities of conductors. Responding to growing public interest, Congress in 1998 passed the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act, charging the National Park Service to create a national program whereby sites associated with the Underground Railroad could be identified, interpreted and preserved.
In Indiana, the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, part of the Department of Natural Resources, responded to the park service's invitation and began a State Underground Railroad Initiative. The division also helped a diverse group of people around the state with an interest in the history and accomplishments of the railroad to establish a nonprofit organization, Indiana Freedom Trails.
The Underground Railroad Initiative is a collaborative program of the DNR division, designed to foster efforts to identify places, people and events associated in Indiana with the Underground Railroad. The division works with Indiana Freedom Trails, other state agencies and local organizations. Indiana Freedom Trails, through a system of volunteers, carries out much of the research needed to locate and verify sites. The National Park Service has created a Network to Freedom listing for each state that recognizes confirmed Underground Railroad sites, facilities where citizens can learn more about the railroad, and programs that sponsor Underground Railroad projects.
Donna Stokes-Lucas, co-coordinator of Indiana Freedom Trails, says members of her organization have made a priority of helping the division obtain Network to Freedom listings for Indiana.
Among the 19 current listings are such noted sites as the Mother Church of the African-American Episcopal Church in Indiana, Bethel A.M.E. in Indianapolis; the Levi Coffin House in Fountain City; the Eleutherian College in Lancaster; the Georgetown historic district in Madison; Decatur County Courthouse in Greensburg; and the Seymour train station.
A special state marker program now commemorates Underground Railroad and related historical events. The Indiana Historical Bureau, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, and Indiana Freedom Trails have sponsored markers for 20 sites around the state. In Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties, Maxine Brown and the Southern Indiana Minority Enterprise Initiative Inc. are developing an African-American Heritage Trail that will highlight people and locations associated with the struggle for freedom along the Ohio River, as well as other sites important in black history. Among the Underground Railroad locations on the trail will be the Hannah Toliver marker in Jeffersonville and the Oswald Wright marker in Corydon, both recalling leaders who freed enslaved people in Kentucky.
In September 2009, a national Network to Freedom conference will be held in Indianapolis and offer those who are engaged in research and education efforts an opportunity to share experiences. If you'd like to learn more about the Underground Railroad in Indiana, you can visit the division website (
www.in.gov/dnr/historic) or the Indiana Freedom Trails site (
www.indianafreedomtrails.org).
Glass, of Indianapolis, is director of the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, Indiana Department of Natural Resources. He can be reached at
jglass@dnr.in.gov.
