Underground Railroad Free Press, January 2012
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® Underground Railroad Free Press Independent reporting on today’s Underground Railroad January, 2012 urrfreepress.com Volume 7, Issue 34 McGill Slave Cabin Overnight Stays Propel Restoration As one travels through the countryside of the difference vividly are the stark dissimilarities urrFreePress.com South, the dwindling number of plantations between a plantation's "big house" and its remaining from a time gone by now more slave cabins if the latter still exist at all. strongly beckon tourists, writers, archeolo- gists and the curious for the hidden stories Editorial they tell. Generations of African-Americans International Underground found these places unpleasant and seldom Railroad a Modern Necessity visited but now that is changing with a rising The Underground Railroad and age group far enough removed from slavery, Civil War ended most but not all Jim Crow and segregation to be increasingly slavery in the United States. An inquisitive about the actual locales where estimated 27 million people live American slavery was concentrated. in slavery today, 40,000 of them As old plantations become more open to the in the United States, mainly in public, visitors see first hand the contrast be- agriculture , sweatshops and pro- tween enslaver and enslaved. Portraying the Please see McGill, page 3, column 1 stitution. This modern horror has prison New Underground Railroad Museum Draws Thousands slaves in China producing goods By Peter Slocum, North Country Underground which feature stories of runaways who es- at zero labor cost for world mar- Railroad Historical Association caped to Canada on the Champlain Line of kets, Saharan children "bonded" the Underground Railroad. The moving saga Old hidden stories of courage and conflict — into slavery at birth because of Maryland fugitive John Thomas who pros- tales of the Underground Railroad in far their parents are slaves, Indian pered after settling in the Adirondacks is northern New York state — came to life in bridal slaves, Brazilian charcoal highlighted. One room in the museum is de- May 2011 at a new museum in Ausable slaves, Pakistani carpet weavers, voted to the conflict that wracked local Chasm, New York, near the shores of Lake 1.4 million sex slaves, and 8.4 churches when "radical" abolitionists de- Champlain. In its first six months, the North million enslaved children. manded resolutions to abolish slavery. Mu- Star Underground Railroad Museum attracted seum president Don Papson says, "The amaz- Free Press was invited to host a thousands of visitors from around the country ing stories we are sharing here are life- recent international antislavery and abroad. altering. People are discovering family and conference but deferred when A joint project of the North Country Under- community links they never knew existed.” the White House Historical Asso- ground Railroad Historical Association and the ciation offered to host at Deca- In addition to drawing nearly 4,000 visitors sTown of Chesterfield, the museum is perched tur House in Washington, DC. On since it opened last May, the Museum is at- on a hill above the Ausable Chasm, a well- November 14 a televised debate, tracting a steady stream of local community known scenic tourist destination. The Mu- Slavery: A 21st Century Evil, was members to programs that focus on regional seum also partners with nearby John Brown held with panelists Kevin Bales, anti-slavery history and the Civil War. The Farm where the famous abolitionist is buried. president of Free the Slaves; Museum's bus tours spotlighting Underground David Batstone, president of Not “Lake Champlain: Gateway to Freedom” is Railroad sites in nearby towns sell out almost for Sale; Luis C. d'Baca, US State the unifying theme of the museum's exhibits every Saturday they are offered. Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Per- Readers Invited: 2012 Free Press Prizes and Annual Survey sons; and Joy Ezeilo, UN Rappor- Each January, we ask our readers whom they also sponsors a survey of the international teur on Trafficking in Persons. believe deserves special recognition for Un- Underground Railroad community and shares The remainder of this editorial is derground Railroad work. Each fall, we then results with the community, public officials adapted from Bales' conference award the Underground Railroad Free Press and others. The surveys include some ques- article, "Slavery: Standing on the Prizes for Leadership, Preservation and Ad- tions carried forward each year to track edge of extinction?" available at vancement of Knowledge in the international trends, new questions on recent develop- aljazeera.com. Kevin Bales is Underground Railroad community. ments, and questions which readers suggest. president of Free the Slaves, pro- fessor of sociology at London's If you know someone who has done good Some of the most valuable lessons learned Roehampton University, and Pul- work in any of these three areas whom you from these surveys since the first in 2007 itzer Prize nominee for his 1999 would like to nominate, let us encourage you came from reader-suggested questions. Let book Disposable People: New to do so. It's easy. Go to urrFreePress.com, us know what you think would be good to Slavery in the Global Economy. click on Prizes, download a nomination form ask in the 2011 survey which will be admin- and email it to us. While you are there, en- istered online in May. You will be invited to The public often believes slavery joy having a look at past prize winners and participate. Survey results will be summa- ended with 19th-century cam- their accomplishments. rized in our July issue and full results will be posted on our website. Continued on page 2 Each year, Underground Railroad Free Press UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREE PRESS Page 2 paigns that brought an end to le- Waterford, Virginia gal slavery but nothing could be One of an occasional series on Underground Railroad sites further from the truth. The new It might be in the South, but the Quaker- The Loudoun Rangers were a Union Army slavery that emerged after 1945 founded village of Waterford, Virginia, has a unit mustered by Loudoun County residents. is crucially different since slaves proud heritage of abolitionism, the Under- The unit was led by Captain Samuel Means, are cheaper today than at any ground Railroad and Confederate defiance in a prominent Waterford businessman person- time in history. While slaves the Civil War. ally recruited by Lincoln’s Secretary of War, were major capital purchases in Edwin Stanton. The Loudoun Rangers were the 19th century, today their ac- Founded in 1733 by the Quaker Amos Janney, the prime means of protection for freedom See Abolition, page 3, column 3 Waterford today is a small spot on the map seekers traveling through Virginia across the reached from one direction by an unpaved nearby fords of the Potomac River into Subscribe road. Eight miles from the Potomac River and Free Press subscriptions are free. To Maryland. For acting on their anti-slavery subscribe, send email addresses of Union territory, the Quaker village was well convictions, members of the Loudoun Rang- those you would like to receive Free known during Underground Railroad times for Press to [email protected]. ers had their property confiscated by the aiding freedom seekers and as the main seat Confederacy and were imprisoned if caught. View or Add to Datebook of abolitionist activity in Loudoun County, Email us about upcoming events and Virginia. The Quaker Church of America had Forgotten by time, Waterford moldered for we will add them to Datebook. Click on banned slavery in 1754. decades until preservation efforts began in Datebook at urrFreePress.com to view the 1940s. Nearly all of the homes and other a comprehensive calendar of events. In 1850, Samuel Janney, grandson of Amos, buildings in today's village date from the Send News, Letters, Articles or Ads was tried and acquitted for harboring and eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and it News, letters or articles: guiding freedom seekers. In 1857, Waterford's is practically impossible to find one that is [email protected] Advertising: [email protected] Quaker mail carrier Yardley Taylor was ac- not well kept. The Waterford Fair held the See the notice on our web site for cused of being "chief of the abolition clan in first weekend in October draws thousands specifications, rates and restrictions. Loudoun" and harboring runaways. The area who enjoy stepping back in time to glimpse was contested and held by both armies nu- Link Your Web Site or View Lynx just what freedom seekers passed through Visit urrFreePress.com to view Lynx, merous times during the Civil War. as they were ushered north. links to other organizations. To add your link, email its web address to Expelled 1840s Student Abolitionist Now Honored [email protected]. On the Colgate University campus from which central New York state's voice of abolition Free Press Prize Nominations he was expelled in 1847, George Ritchie was and reform. Visit urrfreepress.com to learn more honored this October 22 by being inducted about these annual prizes and to Before the Scottish immigrant Ritchie died download a nomination form. into the National Abolition Hall of Fame. at 33, he published continuously on slavery Rate Your Underground Railroad Site Editor of the first student newspaper at Col- and abolition, preached antislavery from Go to urrfreepress.com/#Scale to use the gate, Ritchie was expelled for his editorial many pulpits, and served on local, state, Wellman Scale to rate authenticity of an Underground Railroad site claim. criticizing New York state churches and vot- and national anti-slavery committees. ers for tepid support of stronger voting rights List Your Underground Railroad Site for black men in the election of 1846. While Ritchie was nominated to the National Aboli- Go to urrfreepress.com/#Visit to link to tion Hall of Fame by publishers Nellie and leading to his brief life in ardent support of the most comprehensive map of Under- William Edmonston of Hamilton.