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6-17-1905 American Visions; Guiding Light of the Underground Railroad; 1995 American Visions

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TRAVELING THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

xploring the Underground Railroad, North America's greatest 19th-cen­ tury covert enterprise, is a fascinating and enlightening endeavor, one that recalls both the initiative and heroism of our ancestors and the later Ewhitewashing of an effort that relied strongly on black leadership. To help take our readers on that journey-and on ones that they can make today following the trails that led north to freedom-we have asked historian Charles Blackson to give us his reminiscences on his 30 years of research into the subject. Mr. Blackson is the author of The Underground Railroad and The Un­ derground Railroad: First Person Narratives, among other works; he is also the curator of an 80,000-artifact Afro-American collection that bears his name at Temple University in Philadelphia. Following the North Star, he takes us on a journey to Wilberforce and Oberlin, Ohio, to Detroit and then on to Canada. Henry Chase, author of In Their Footsteps: The American Visions Guide to African-American Heritage Sites, follows Mr. Blockson's personal recollections and insights with an outline of the many places in each of these locales that travelers interested in the Underground Railroad-and in the broader black experience-will want to visit.

American Visions CONTENTS The ofncial magazine of 1he Africnn American Museums Association 2 STAFF GREENE COUNIY AND WILBERPORCB Timothy L. Jenkins, PulJlisher Gary A. Puckrein, Edito r in Chief 8 Joanne Harris, Editor OBERLIN Henry 1-1. Chase, Edicor/Writer Edward Towles, Art Director Joyce Gates, Production Director 16 Anthony C. Murphy, Editorial Assiscanr DETROrt Melvin C. Fallis, Direcwr of Adve11ising Sheronda Nixon, Accounr Executive Ed Swailes, Special Projecrs Maiwger 21 Dana L. Irvin, Advertising Associace CANADA Samuel Collins, Business Manager

National Advenising and Editorial Offices 2101 s Srreer. NWI 26 \V;i,o/Jingro n. O.C. 20008-401 I (ZOZ) 46Z- I 779, fox. (ZOZ) 462-3997 WHERE TO PIND WHAT YOU WANT Cover and center map design by Eucxlia Gmphics. ,=.--=====;;;;.-=--=-=-c-==-~======~==------

GREENE COUNTY AND WILBERFORCE

VVilberforce University was founded by d1e African Merhoclisr Episcopal Church, America's first autonomous black instirution with a nationwide reach. :,nd is d1e firsr black-owned and -led college in Amerie,1.

2 American Visions hirty years of research has shown me that in In the time of slave1y, d1e African Memodist Episco­ most cases, wherever there was an African Meth- pal Church was unique-a nationwide autonomous Af­ odist Episcopal church before the Civil Wa1~ it ric::w-America n institution, exclusively conceived, was a stop on the Unde1ground Railroad. From d1e birthed and raised by and within d1e black commu­ late-18th-century inception of d1e church in Philadel­ nity. And it was this church that founded and led phia under Rich~ird Allen, it participated wid1 others Wilbe1force University, which from its inception in Xe­ in protecting escaping slaves from the Soud1. The nia, Ohio, was an imporcam station on the Under­ church's efforts in d1is direction followed the geographi­ ground Railroad in the Midwest. Although the black cal spread of its congregations around d1e councry. community there was small, it was committed to pro­ Allen and od1ers who followed him-such as Bishop tecting its Afiican-American brod1ers and sisters who Daniel Alexander Payne, who lacer served as che presi­ had fled from d1e South. · dent of Wilbe1force University-gave their se1vices Wilbe1force University's role was also critical to the widely, bom literally and figuratively, because many black community in anomer sense. As far back as the of d1em served as circuit riders. As mey moved from Free African Society, whid1 was founded in me 1790s, one church to anomer, mey spread the word of the our community had as one of its central aims d1e estab­ Underground Railroad; mey were cil"cuit riders not only lishment of educational facilities for Afiican Americans. of me churches, but also of the antislavery movement. When Wilberforce was established, d1e center of mis d1iv­ Wherever d1ey era v­ ing force, mis wge toward education, was transfeJTed r eled, they learned from Philadelphia and New York to Ohio. Of course, ~ about the various there were Lincoln and Cheyney universities in Pennsyl­ Si ~ communities, the vania and Obe11in in Ohio, all of which se1ved blacks, g- communities' pro­ but Wilberforce-with Payne and od1er highly educated ~ rectors and the and impressive people-was a fully African-American £ C communities' men­ enterprise, a unique statement of black determination ~- aces: slave hunters and capacity. This distinction is significant, and it was ;; ~ and me like. certainly seen so by our ancestors. -Charles Blockson

he farmhouses, fields and ru­ find the old stations on your own, ral towns of Greene County, as even mo'se houses that still stand Ohio, that once offered refuge lack historical markers describing Tto fugitive slaves have long their 19m-centu1y roles. Among the since been dramatically transformed. places highlighted on the tour are: evertheless, Wilberforce Un iversity the Rev. Samuel Wilson House (site still stands proudly, and so do the of an Ohio Anti-Slavery Socie ty remains of many of Greene County's convention in me early 1830s), the Underground Railroad stations. To­ Rev. Jones Farm (Jones, Wilberforce day, visitors to the area not only can University's fourth president, hid take a guided tour of the old Un­ runaways in a barn that had a fa lse­ derground Rail road; they can also floored hayloft), the Mitchell House wander through museums, walk (with three stairways capable of through historic mills, take part in concealing runaways), the Hilltop cultural festivals, witness a re-enacted Road House (a panuy floor lifted clash between Ohio's first settlers and out to reveal an underground tl1e Shawnee Indians mey di placed, room), and me 1 osker Residence and examine the h ome of Paul (a trapdoor revealed steps leading Laurence Dunbar-the first African­ to a tunnel that connected to a American poet to achieve national small cave in me front yard). prominence. The tour is still a work in The Greene County Under­ progress. For information on times, ground Railroad Tour is a guided duration and fees, call either me one-you will be hard pressed to Greene County Convention and

Underground Railroad 1995 3 Visitors Bureau, (800) 733-9109, or the National Afro-American Museum, (800) BLK-HIST. Related to this tour is the Col. Charles Young House. Although in slavery days runaways hid in its cellar and its barn, the house tran­ scends the Underground Railroad, for it was later the home of America's leading black soldier, a man who served his country in an The Col. Charles Young House in \Vilberforce. exempla1y fashion and, in return, saw his chance for senior field com­ mand destroyed exclusively on ra­ career c rushed by President medically unfit for seivice. Perhaps cial grounds. Woodrow Wilson's direct and per­ it is indeed better to u·avel than ar­ As the United States entered sonal intervention. When a white rive, for Young's ride was in vain. World War I, it had one black officer of the 10th expressed his He could lead black troops in ac­ graduate of West Point as a field dislike of taking orders from a black tion, but not white u·oops to the officer. Lt. Col. Charle Young man, Secretary o f Wa r Newton mess hall, and certainly he could not spoke Latin, Greek, French, Span­ Baker first thought he should "ei­ order a white officer and gentleman ish and German; had secured rec­ ther do his duty or resign." But Wil­ to do an officer's duty. ot until five ognition for his successful training, son, ale1ted to the issue by a Mis­ days before the signing of the armi­ organizing and disciplining efforts sissippi senator, presidentially '·sug­ stice was Young readmitted to the of the raw recruits of the 9th Ohio gested" to Newton that the white service and placed in command of Volunteer Infantry in the earlie r officer be transferred to another a training camp in Indiana. Spanish-American War; and was a unit. Soon other politicians followed Today, the Col. Charles Young combat veteran of Pershing's expe­ suit, and Baker had Young placed House in Wilberforce is not open dition into Mexico in search of on the retired list o n medical to the public; however, efforts are Pancho Vi lla. Scheduled to assume grounds. In response, Young rode under way to transform it into a command of the renowned 10th on horseback 500 miles from m useum celebrating not o nly Cavalry (which, excepting its offic­ Wilberforce, Ohio, to Washington, Young's life, but also the wider Af­ ers, was all-black), Young saw his D.C., to establish that he was not rican-American contribution to America's milita1y strength. While in Wilberforce, don't miss -u i th e National Afro-American Mu- .fl seum and Cultural Center, !o­ f cated on the original grounds of [ Wilberforce Un iversity. African­ r American life in the two decades ~ between tl1e end of World War II ~ and the passage o f the Voting :, Rights Act is the theme of the museum's permanent exhibit, "From Victo1y to Freedom." Popular cul­ ture is the crux of the exhibit, witl1 photographs and artifacts highlight­ ing the worlds of black business, education, religion , fashion and music. The museum also mounts temporary exhibits profiling African­ American artists, history, political activists and scholars, and it offers a venue for lectures, films and workshops on themes that explore Stilt-walke1;5 at d1e annual Daycon Black Cultural Festival. black America.

4 American VisioM WELCOME to Greene National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center County, Ohio! Wilberforce is home to the National Afro­ American Museum and Cultural Center, the nation's premiere facility dedicated to the preservation and interpretati on of the Afro-American experience in I the United States. Other attractio ns of African-American importance include the Paul Laurence Dunbar home. Visit his home I filled with memorabilia of his life and career. The National Afro-American Museum and Cultural The United States Air Center is a national treasure established to present African Force Museum is the world's American history and culture from the African origins to the oldest aviation museum and Ohio's t present. largest free attraction! Witness the Epic Outdoor Drama Blue Jacket, the true story of a white man who became war chief of the Shawnee Nation 200 I years ago. While v1s1tmga the rea, you wil] find many other exciting attractions ranging from Bellfair , The Center boasts a Country Stores and Restaurant remarkable permanent exhibit; to the Historic Clifton Mill, the From Victory to Freedom: Th e Museum has f eatured Mall at Fairfield Commons and Afro-American Life in the award-winning exhibitions Wright State University's Ervin Fifties, whichfocuses on Black 1 like Songs of My People J. Nutter Center. America between the years and Uncommon Beauty in All Roads Lead to Greene 1945 and 1965. Common Objects; The County- conveni ently located just Legacy ofAf rican American 10 minutes from downtown The Museum has over Craft Art. Dayton, between 1-70, 1-71, 1-75 I 0,000 artifacts acquired & 1-675. from throughout the world in its permanent collection. For more information, contact the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center 1350 Brush Row Rd.,Wilberforce, OH. 45384 513/376-4944

NATIONAL AFRO-AMERICAN

3335 East Patterson Road • Beaverc reek, OH 45430 MUSEUM AND (513) 429-9100 • (800) 733-9109 CULTURAL CENTER z

0~ - ::, I!!. ~ )> ries of congressional districts, in the 3 a, process displacing the Shawnee, ~· ::, Miami, Delaware and other native ;:: peoples. It also introduces visitors rJ C: to one of the most unusual Indian 3 war leaders of the day, Bl ue Jacket-a white man who not only captured Daniel Boone, but who had an African American as one of his chief aides. Assisted by a run­ away slave named Caesar, whose death in battle some years later would leave its trace in the nam­ ing of Caesar's Creek, Blue Jacket and the various septs (bands) of Shawnee fought to keep Ohio red. Today, on the ground crossed by Caesar's Creek, 50 actors armed with flintlocks and flaming arrows take part in the Blue Jacket Drama, re-enacting the struggle to keep la­ crosse America's national pastime and entertaining all of those fortu­ nate en ough to be in Greene The National Afro-American Museum inte1prets African-American life in the two County to see it. decades following World War JJ. Just across the county line from all these attractions lies Dayton, Another way to explore black dates back to 1802 and, at six sto­ Ohio. Here the visitor will find the America is to stop by n earby ries, was then the largest grist mill Paul Laurence Dunbar House, Wilberforce University, whose ar­ in existence. Even today it is quite which alone repays the trip to a chives and occasional exhibits tes­ a sight, the more so as it overlooks city that also offers the U.S . Air tify to an autonomous black initia­ Clifton Gorge. It is also quite a Force Museum (with an excellent tive dating back to antebellum sound-the gentle creaking of the permanent exhibit on tl1e Tuskegee times. Look in particular for any ex­ mill wheel and the gurgle of water hibit that examines the exemplary over the spillway soothe the soul. life o f Daniel Alexander Payne The gift shop offers antiques and (1811-1893). This freeborn South old-fashioned candy and toys; the Carolinian spoke Latin, Greek and restaurant offers whole-grain bread, French, guided the most outstand­ homemade pies and corn bread, ing school for black children in his and pancakes-all made from grain home state (until the state in 1834 ground on the premises. Visitors passed a law forbidding African who arrive during the Christmas Americans to be taught to read and season receive an added bonus: the write) and led the African Method­ country's largest collection of Santa ist Episcopal Church to purchase Clauses (2,000 of them), a 300-foot Wilberforce University, whose presi­ waterfa ll of lights, a life-size man­ dent he wa~ fo r 13 years. ger scene, and the best Christmas Greene County. which lies but light display in the entire country, 50 miles north of Cincinnati, has with a quaner of a million lights much to offer beyond its black heri­ blazing. tage. Families in search of a good In Xenia, the Blue Jacket Drama tin1e (with just the slightest soups;:on entices visitors with a compelling of history thrown in) will enjoy re-creation of the Indian-settler con­ both Clifton Mi ll and the Blue flict that transformed the old orth­ Jacket Drama. Historic Clifton Mill west Tenitory from Eden into a se- Historic Clifton Mill.

6 American Vi~ions Airmen), the Dayton Art Institute tually as he left it, complete with ton Black Cultural Festival. A cor­ (with a small bul interesting selec­ his desk, typewriter, books, pe r­ nucopia of African and African­ tio n of West Afocan art), and the sonal belongings-incl uding the American visual and pe rforming home of the Wright brothers, who ceremo nial sword presented to him arts, this year's event offers mo re gave the world the gift of flight. by President Roosevelt-and many than 50 performances on five stages Born in O hio to a fa ther who of the original manuscripts of his and features jazz, blues, R&B, had escaped slavery in Kentucky poems. reggae, gospel and Top 40 music; and fl ed to Canada before return­ Vis ito rs to Dayton fo rtunate trad itional African dance and drum­ ing to the United States to serve in eno ugh to be in Lown July 14-16, mi ng; and s to rytelli ng.- H enry the 55th Massachusetts Regime nt 1995, get an added bonus: the Day- Chase and to a mother who had been en­ slaved in the Deep SouLh , Paul Laurence Dunbar was the star of his high school's debating team, the president of its literary society, the editor of its newspaper and its sole Looking for a City African-American student. At age 2 1, with bo rrowed money, Dunbar published his first collection of poetry, Oak an d Ivy­ Rich in Diversity? which (like its irnmediaLe succes­ sor) was articulated in a dialect that While following Urn path of the Si t back and enjoy an '1Jcz,OR4 he learned fro m his mother. The 1896 rave review of Dunbar's sec­ underground exciting African­ ond book, Majors and Minors, by railway, American JUBIWE! n~~~~ WilJiam Howells, dean of American performance aL Lhe ·::::~ litera1y critics, made the poet's ca­ ... ,,, ~, n ·. reer. Howells' endorsemem of "Paul Victoria Theatre. . ) Dunbar ... the only man of pure Overnight in DayLOn at ··:,·:-·· African blood and of American civi­ lization to feel the Negro life aes­ one of our 58 hotels/motels thetically and express it lyrically," and have time Lo enjoy 27 additional enabled the poet to find a wide attractions, line dining. spectacular (white) audience, with the result extend your visit that he became and remained until shopping, performing arts his early death, at 34, o ne o f in Dayton.Ohio LO sampl e a few and more! Ame rica's most fa mous men of let­ of our highlights: ters. To his intense dissatisfactio n, For visitor information however, he also became and re­ Follow the African-American contact the maine d a captive o f his dialect Heritage 7bur at Lhe United Dayton/Montgomery voice, despite publis hing several States Air Vorce Museum novels, a co llection of magazine ar­ County Convention ticles, .librettos and scripLs, and col­ and enjoy a fantastic film and Visitors Bu reau at lecti o ns o f "straig ht" poeLry. at the IMAX Theatre. 513-226-8248 Dunbar's prolific writing (wh_i ch left little time for relaxation), the fail­ Cross the Third Stroel Peace ure of his marriage, tuberculosis, al­ Bridge on your way LO the Paul 800-221-8235 (outside Ohio) coho lism and his lament that "I'm Laurence Dunbar House Stale tired of dialect but the magazines are n't" dro ve him into an early Memorial where you'll learn about Plan a Tour in grave. his life and acclaimed poetry. To d ay, v is ito rs to the Pa ul Laurence Dunbar House, which was iJAYFoN paid for with the profits of his third book of poetry, see his home vis-

Underground Railroad 1995 7 he list of African Ameri­ ans who atrenclecl Oberlin noll ege is Jong and clislin- guishecl-as is Oberlin, Ohio's involvement wid1 the Under­ ground Railroad. Although the town and the college were lib­ eral and open-mine/eel, d1ere were still patterns of paternal­ ism and even segments of seg­ regation in bod1 (as there were elsewhere along 1he Under­ ground Railroe1d). These pat­ terns underline the differences with institutions, such as Wilberforce University, tfott were controlled by blacks. l would at/1 Oberlin College a shining example of an insti­ nttion that opened its doors. Several members of d1e commu­ nity and the college were in­ volved wid1 John Brown before he made his famous mid on Harpers Feny, and, of course, Brown's father, Owen, was on the board of trustees. Even today, Oberlin contin­ ues to play a prominent role in educating African Americans who go on co have a great in­ fluence not only upon black so­ ciety, but on America as a whole. The school's music cle­ pw-unent, in particula1~ which has graduated, sponsored or encouraged d1e likes of Anna Julia Cooper and William Grant Still, continues a tradition that elates back 150 years and that was especially strong in the last half of the 19rh centwy-a trnclition of making an impact on the country by schooling those who went on to become the backbone of America's educated black leadership. -Charles Blockson Enjoying Lorain County's Ali-a-American Festiv,tl.

8 American Visions berlin, Ohio, and Oberlin to 300 Oberlin c 1t1zens a nd stu­ A Pleasant Experience College were conceived dents, black and w hite, forcibly in 1833 as Christian bod­ freed the youth, who was later es­ Awaits You .. . 0 ies-in the words of corted to Canada. Twenty townsfolk EXPERIENCE the ir founder, the Rev. John Jay spent time in jail after standing trial OBERLIN Shipherd, they were places "to live in Cleveland for this act. As a tes­ together in all things as brethren, tament to Oberlin's rejection of an PACKAGE INCLUDES: • Deluxe overnight and Lo glorify God in our bodies immoral law and as part of the de­ accommodations and spirits, which are His." The col­ fense of its citizen activists, the • Champagne & chocolates lege was the first in the United town broug ht kidnapping charges in room • Candlelight dinner for two States to admit women (1833) and against the slave hunters who had • Traditional AmeriCAD Breakfast one of the first to admit African detained Price. Only Americans. fl was this last factor Among the black activists who $99 per couple that determined the town's his­ took part in the Price rescue were plus tax &. gratuity tory-and which today ma kes John Copeland (who was rumored For reservations call Oberlin, and surrounding Lorain to have guided Price on to Canada 216-775-1111 County, such a fascinating stop for after his liberation) and Lewis 1-800-376-4173 Valid through 12/:JQ/95. Subfect to ru,ailabUity. visitors. Leary-both of whom later died in Not ooUd with adtJancf? restttJO.tions conjitmed In February 1835, the college's J o hn Brown's raid on Harpers at lugfta rak or a,ent dates. board of trustees was deadlocked Feny-the freeborn Evans brothers, 4-4 on the issue of admitting Afri­ the fugitive Jeremiah Fox, the freed Ui~?!~~ can Americans, when its chairman, John H. Scott, and the freed Oberlin, Ohio 44074 the Rev. John Keep, cast the de­ O rindatus S.B. Wall, who would go ciding vote in favor. (The promi­ on to become the first regularly nent New York abolitionist Arthur commissioned black captain in the Tappan had offered funds for the U.S. Army. struggling college on the conditio n Today's visitors to Oberlin can that blacks be admitted and that trace much of this history-and the designated antislavery profes­ sors join the faculty.) From mNLY IN that point through the remain­ der of the century, Oberlin was the leading institution of OBERLIN higher education fo r African Americans-and, as such, the l\'Jhether you're looking for college and the community fou nd themselves intimately performing arts, country crafts, involved in Lhe antislavery history or scenery, you'll find struggle. Virtually the entire commu­ a visit to Oberlin is a unique nity supported the effort, and opportunity. An eclectic fugitive slaves who got as far as Oberlin could be assured combination of small town of passing on to Huron o r beauty and cosmopolitan Sandusky, Ohio, and then on to freedom in Amherstburg, diversity found nowhere else. Ontario, in Canada. Oberlin's communal defiance of the Fu­ Just 45 minutes from Downtown gitive Slave Act was fla grant: Cleveland. Call (216) 774-6262 When John Price, an 18-year­ old fugitive s lave living in for information, Oberlin, was seized by slave or 1-800-9-0BERLIN. hunters and a U.S. marshal in nearby Wellington, Ohio, 200 Oberlin's Underground Railroad Monument.

Underground Railroad 1995 9 lives of those who made it-in black activists; the Monroe House, South Professor Street; Tappan buildings, statues, markers and cem­ ho me of yet another aboliti onist Square; the Underground Rail­ eteries that testify both to black ini­ who served on the college faculty; road Monument and Martin tiative and to a multirncial effort to and Westwood Cemetery, w here Luther King Jr. Park, which is promote what is best ab.out many of the town's antislavery ac­ graced by three statues-one of Dr. America. Don't miss the 'First tivists lie buried. King, one commemorating the Church, site both of the Oberlin Other African-American heritage Oberlin-Wellington rescue, and one Anti-Slavery Society meetings and sites include the Shurtleff statue, honoring the three African Ameri­ the memorial service for John which pays tribute to Col. Giles cans from Oberlin who died in the Copeland after his death at Harp­ Shurtleff, commander of Ohio's first Harpers Ferry raid. ers Ferry; the Evans House, gath­ black Civil War regiment; the Un­ Two other stops in Oberlin that e ring spot for Oberlin's leading derground Railroad Sculpture on you won't want to miss are the John Mercer Langston House and b' the Allen Memorial Art Museum. C: ~ John Mercer Langston (1829-1897) -< and his brother Charles, the sons b ~ of a Virginia planter and a freed- b' woman of African and Indian an­ ] cestry, were raised in Ohio by a ~ succession of abolitionist families, a, black and white, after their parents' deaths in 1834. Oberlin's fifth black graduate and the president of the Ohio State Anti-Slavery Society, J.M. Langston was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1854-after the bar associa­ tion determined that he had more w hite than black blood in his an­ cestry! In the following year, he was elected the clerk of an Ohio town­ ship, becoming the first known black elected official in An1erica's history. Langston later recruited troops for black Civil War regi­ ments, served as the inspector gen­ era I of the Freedmen's Bureau, headed Howard University's law department, was U.S. minister to Haiti, served as president of Virginia Nonna! and Collegiate Institute-the first state-supported black college in America-and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1888 as Virginia's first African-Ameri­ can congressman. Although he left Ohio after the Civil War, Langston's ties to Oberlin were deep: Not only did he many the sister of O.S.B. Wall; his brother Charles, who was also educated at Oberl in, married the widow of Lewis Leary, o ne of Oberlin's black martyrs of the IIarpers Ferry raid (the daughter of Charles and Mary The Fi1:,1 Church in Oberlin. Leary was the mother of Langston

10 Anuarkan Vbions ..If I am dying for F-reedomt I could no,t die for a better cause 1 had rather die than lie sla'Ve," • John Copeland. former Oberlin resident Upon hearing his death sentence for his participation in John Brown 1s rajd on. llatPer's F~rtt

Walk in the - tootstepsofthe African-AmertGan Heritage Tour courageous men, women and children who risked their lives for freedom. In Lorain County, Ohio you'll experience the emotional journey and the overwhelming relief of reaching the "breathe easy" point of the

Underground Railroad - Oberlin, Ohio. While Lorain County offers touring our rich historical sites such as Westwood world class theater, music and art. Cemetery, First Church and Martin Luther King

Park, stop at our many multicultural eateries, shops and museums. For our 12-page African-American

Heritage Tour Brochure and/or group tour and lodging information call us at In 1980 a group of Oberlin 1-800-334-1673. College Students walked the Underground Railroad south to north, ending in Oberlin. The spirit of their project lives on in the preservation of •Wellin!lton Underground Railroad History.

OHIO Lorain County African-American Herit~ ¥four Lorain County Visitors Bureau 611 Broadway• Lorain, Ohio 440S2 • 1-800-334-1673 Grear rimes. in the 1Varer or our: Lorain Coumy 's Afro-American Fes1iv,1/.

H ughes, America's pre-emine nt than stop-in. experiences; but if you black poet of the 20th centu1y). To­ take the trouble 10 acquire the day, the John Me rcer Langston county's excellent '·African-American House, a National Histo ric Land­ He ri tage To ur·· brochure, you'll mark that is not open Lo the pub­ have enough background infonna­ lic, recalls the life of a man whose tion to appreciate what you are wit­ endeavor teak him, as the title of nessing. Among the mo re signifi­ his autobiography proclaims, From cant sites are the former David the Viig inia Plan1a1ion to d1e Na­ Webster Ho use, which ha d a tional 01pitol. makeshift elevator within a 12-foot In Oberlin. you can take your­ flreplace so that runaways could be self from Langston's old home to hidden from sight; Kanisa House, Africa simply by stopping in at the which in the 1850s had concealed Alle n Memo rial Art Museum . rooms and tunnels and which now Here you'll find a score of ethno­ serves as the ho me of the First graphic a nd art objects from West Community Inte rfaith Institu te, Africa , including textiles and sponsor of the annual Afro-Ameri­ wooden carvings of the Da n , ca n Festival (see '" Festivities·· Senufo, Gura, Pe nde and Baga sidebar); and Monteith Hall, which peoples. You'll also see a score of had a runnel exte nding fro m its paintings by ,vell-known African­ basement to the nearby Black River American artists, including Ri ch­ and whose owner managed the en­ mo nd Barthe, Romare Bearden and tire southern shore of Lake Erie op­ Horace Pippin. erations for the Underground Rail­ One final thought: Not all of road. The first site is in Hunting­ no rth central Ohio·s attractions are ton. the otl1er two in Elyria. Al l un­ located in Oberlin. In additio n to derscore the truth that the entire the lakesho re appeal of nearby Lake county gave support to 19th-cen­ Erie and the many possibilities to tu1y America's most critical covert be found 20 miles away in Cleve­ enterprise. land, the surro unding towns of For further information on Lorain Lorain County have sites directly County sites, call the Lorain County linked to the Underground Railroad. Visitors Bureau, (800) 334-1673. Most are simply drive-by, rather - Hemy Chase

12 American Vi~ions 58

18 Wellington etroi1's loca1ion, just across the narrow w;1- 1he Sowh by making sure that there wus :1 se­ ters from \Vindsor, Onlario, was inslru­ cure connec1ion co Canada. The order had a pro­ menta! in its role in 1he Uncle1ground Rail­ found influence on tl1e Underground Railroad in D unknown to roacl. Detroit's Unde,ground Railroad history was Detroit. 1hough i1s role is still /;11gely fairly well-known even 30 years ago, when I was many hiswrians. beginning my research. The meeting of Frederick Interestingly. the Detroi1 railroad employed d1e Dougfass and John Brown and others :1t W'illiam sell'ices of a group of white cutchroacs, known as Webb's house. for insiance, has long been part of the Mcl(ensyites. These people, many of 1hem the known sto,y-but I was fascinated when I came former prisoner., stole slaves from 1he Sou1h and across documentation :1bout Detroit's Order of Afri­ /Jrought lhem co lhe Underground Railroad. Al­ can Mys1eries, w1 unde,grouncl black o,ganization though 1hey were more or less unsc1vo1y people, dedicmcd to 1he struggle against slave1y. 1he McKensyites played a role in 1he Uncle1ground The Order of Afrirnn Mysteries 1w1s /Jased on :1 Rnilroacl mcJ\'ement in Detroit. J\Jany of their es­ Masonic lodge and had a system of secret signs, capees wenl on LO Canada. As Malcolm X used handshakes, passwords and other signals. The group 10 say. "Libernlion or freedom, by any means nec­ was dedicated to protecting brothers and sisters from essnry. "-Charles Blockson

Detroit's Freedom Festival.

I hough Michigan's ro le in the collection's strength being in a case study in more graduate busi­ the Underground Railroad Abbas id textiles and Ma meluke ness schools? Why can't the man forms the cem e rpi ece o f glass-and Maghreb (Morocco) il­ get more Respect? To move from the permanent exhibit at luminated manuscripts, rugs and the streets to the histo1y books is TDetroit's Museum of African clothing. If the names of tJ1e peri­ rare-but nothing more; from the American History, the wider ex­ ods and dynasties are unfamiliar, shop fl oor to d1e boardroom is rarer perience of abduction and slavery don't be put off: the objects are still. But a black guy moving from provides visito rs with an interpre­ slllnning, and the st01y d1ey tell­ the shop fl oor of a Detroit auto tive context. From the sho res of of Africa's great contributions-is plant in the mid-1950s to the board­ West Africa, through the Middle e nlightening. room of a multimillion-dollar busi­ Passage (imerpreted through a full ­ The institute also holds more re­ ness· in the early 1960s? Gordy had scale mock-up of the cargo hold cent objects traditionally associated to build his own business and of a slave ship), to Colo nial and w ith African coll ections. Sub-Sa­ boardroom to get there, of course; antebelJum America, slave1y's long haran Africa is represented by sculp­ by dint of imagination and d rive night is detailed . Two-dimensional ture, decorative arts and textil es he could break into the record in­ explanato1y panels predominate in from West and Cenu·al Africa. Fig­ dust1y-he never could have bro­ the museum, though these are ural sculpture and masks from the ken into ilie boardroom of a white complemented by period arti facts, Kongo, Yaka, Bena Lulua and other company. inc luding letters of Frederick peoples are complemented by the As everywhere in life, luck and Douglass and Booker T. Washing­ metalwork of ilie Akan peoples and timing played a part: Gordy el­ to n and photographs of stalwarts die bronzes of Benin. bowed his way into the recording of the antislave1y movement. There are few cities in America business as black music was cross­ The museum also hosts tempo­ that treat you to four millennia of ing over and as the industry and rary exhibits that touch upon the histo1y-fortunately, you're in De­ radio stations were running scared artistic expression and historical ex­ troit! from the payola scandal- in which perience of African Americans. In "Don't know much about his­ the major la bels bri bed DJs to play August of each year, the museum tory," but why isn't Beny Gordy Jr. their songs-and Gordy just hap- sponso rs its African World Festival, which drew a crowd of more tha n o ne millio n people in 1994. 0 A still longer per­ < spective on the cul­ "' tural substratum o f the black diaspora is provided to visitors of the Detroit Institute of Arts, o ne of the city's true highlights. The institute's Ancient Egypt collection em­ braces the Predynastic thro ug h the Roman and Coptic periods , with its greatest stre ngths in Midd le and Late Kingdo m sculpture and Coptic textiles. The Islamic North Africa rooms examine the Abbasid period (A.D. 75-1258) and the Fatimid and Mameluke dynasties- The Mocown I Ti.storica/ Museum: Tnily ''Hit.wille USA. ··

Underground Railro3d 1995 17 Greenfield Village incerprets che African-American experience. of Lhe pened to have this song-writing­ With restored studios and exhibits games-from Africa, exhibits looking-to-be-a-singer friend ... who on the major ingers, writer and work of contemporary African­ went by the name of Smokey musicians of the Motown label, this American artists, and a resource li­ Robinson. Please, Please, Please­ place is the Tops (all Four of them) bra,y. From top to bonom, this 100- ls to everyone should be so lucky, cry­ for lovers of the sound. Can't get year-old Victorian house revea ing Tears o f a C lown all the way enough of it? Beginning in May of children that it's a multicultural to the bank. Gordy's Motown la­ this year, an exhibit of the costumes world, past, present and future. bel, initially headquartered in his and voices of Motown's stars will The impact of this multicultural ­ two-story home propheLically be featured at the Herny Ford Mu­ n·orld-including its African-Ameri dubbed "Hitsville U A," rained seum and Greenfield Vi llage in can componenc--on Detroit is o ne Su pre mes throughout the 1960s. nearby Dearborn, Mich. of the Lhemes explored at Lhe De­ With his dreams. it's no Wonder Anention! If you've got children troit Historical Museum. Chang­ city that Gordy felt the Temptations of in tow, head for Your Heritage ing exhibitions chronicle the Los Angeles, to which he departed House. The room of toys, puppets from its 170 1 founding as a French in the early 1970s. He left behind and dolls at this youth museum oc­ trading post through its role as a und his o ld home, which now serves cupies the large minds o f smaller major terminus of the U ndergro as the Motown Historical Mu­ people. Even if it's all fun, how­ Railroad and its dramatic 20th-cen­ seum. ever, it's not all games. There are tu1y u-ansfo1mation. There's no need t o hop Around: also instruments, masks, cloth-and The 1910 U.S. Census revealed

18 American \"i~1oru. cookware a black population in the city of changes and continu1t1es of en­ beds, rabies, benches and illed carpenter and fewer than 6,000. Bue Jim Crow and slaved and free black life in coastal o f an enslaved sk that focus the collapse of cotton prices com­ Georgia in the 19th and 20th cen­ his family; and exhibits s brought bined to drive scores of thousands turies. on the culture that Africa n in of Southern blacks to the we;;tern Hermitage was an industrial plan­ with them and its trnnsfonnation bank of the Detroit River, many of tation, w ith steam-powered saw and the cauldron of slavery. Mattox H ouse, whom settled in Black Bottom, a planing mills, a rice barrel factory, Nearby is the in Savan­ neighborhood w hose most famous Savannah, Ga.'s largest brickworks, built in 1879 on 522 acres County by resident was Joe Louis. Central to and 201 enslaved men, women and nah's neighboring Bryan enslaved the rise of the American auto in­ children who, among other l abors, Amos Morel, a formerly steam engineer dustJy and to American trade union­ produced more than 60 million hand­ African-American became a ism, Detro it's Africa n Americans made bricks. Though by no means who after Emancipation leader of h ave profoundly influenced the unusual in antebellum America, in­ landowning fanner and a . city's history, as you'll see when dustrial slavery is an experience Bryan's black community , frame you visit the museum. rarely highlighted in the 20th-cen­ The l Vi-story, two-room to its Of course, Detroit is a IOL more Lllry portrayals of the life of the dis­ fa rmhouse has been r estored than African-American heritage sites. enfranchised, w hich until recently 1930s appearance and furnished d The city offers a host of restaurants, focused almost exclusively on the with d1e original possessions of an and nightspots, athletic events a nd fes­ unskilled field hand, the w hip and an exhibit about the Morel tivals, the details of which w ill be chains-all d1e more reason to visit Mattox fa milies. Through period ­ cheerfully supplied by the Metro­ an 81-acre, indoor-outdoor museum rooms, graphics, artifacts, audio re s, politan Detroit Convention and Visi­ that comprises more than 80 build­ cordings and staff presentation buildings tors Bureau when you ca ll (800) ings a nd spans more than three visitors to these adjacent lexities of DETROIT, ext. 1113. centuries of America n history. gain a sense of the comp in a span of Just outside Detroit's city limits The two small, gray-brick, one­ Southern black life rated late is Dearborn, Mich., home of the story, 16-foot-square slave houses three generations that sepa a Henry Ford Museum and Green­ originally raised at H ermitage be­ antebellum from Depress io n-er field Village, one of America's most tween 1820 and 1850 and then America. two other enlightening stops for those inter­ transported to the museum in the Greenfield Village's hibits fo­ ested in exploring important aspects 1930s now host exhibits d1at fea­ major African-American ex of George of the black experience in detail. ture the testimony of slaves w ho cus on d1e life and career memo­ H ere, a stroll through the Tl emtit­ gained their freedom and later Washington Carver, whose truction of agc Slave H ouses and M attox wrote books about their experi­ rial consists o f a recons nd exh ib­ House introduces visito rs to the en ces; reproductions o f period his log-cabin bi1thplace a its that detail Carver's innovative

0 agricultural r esearch, and on the ! mid-19th-century Susquehanna Plan­ ~ cation house in which resided the l? Maryland slave-owning Carroll fa m- [ ily. The CatTolls employed 74 slaves 0 iii on the wheat and tobacco fields that adjoined their upper-middle­ class home, and Greenfield Village interprets for visitors the interdepen­ dence of the estate's free and en­ slaved communities. Unless your imagi nation is im­ poverished, the greater Detroit area has so much to offer that the mind boggles. Now, however, you have a quick guide to help you choose how to juggle time, interest and money, secure in knowing that there will be more to see on your Chase The Museum of Afriam Ameriam History explores the Underground l?ai/ro:1d. next visit. - Henry

20 American Vbaons ~ C anada's role in the f Underground Rail- ~ -oad is interesting, i particularly to me, because ;;, I have discovered that ~ members of my own fam­ .. ·• r '"'• .. ... --- .. ~ ily made it from soud1em ! Delaware to Ca nada. My g_ great-granclfad1er, who es­ 'Jl caped in 1856, stayed a if few years in Canada, as ;;; ~ did Jacob Blackson, who is ~ 111entio11ed in Willian1 03 Siill's book, which was d1e first written by a leading member of the Un d er­ ground Railroad. When I went to Canada last sum­ mer and was talking to d1 e Walls, who are d1e descen­ dants of an escapee who anivecl in Ca n ada in 1846, they spoke of people who remembered my rela­ tives. Some of my relatives stayed in Canada; others came back to the United States. Cana.da was not dJe promised Janel d1at many of our ancestors may have expected after reading or h earing of Benjamin Lundy's report of his 1832 visit. Canada was cold . Canada h ad prejudice during those days-as Ma1y Ann Shade/ noted in some of her articles that appeared in The Provincial Freeman. In Canada, too, d1ere was competition for jobs-and an element of segregation. It was not the promised land that most people bragged about. Josiah Henson helped found Dawn, a black cooperative sett/emem in Canada. -Charles Blackson

Underground Railroad 1995 21 b' C :, ~ -< a.~ g m g; !,'l 0 0 C ::, -; though much of his time was de- a. voted to assisting fugitives. Toward f this e nd, in 1841 Henson a nd .,;;; other Fonner slaves and white abo­ a. litionists purchased 200 acres of ~ land near Dresden, Ontario. Here OJ they established an agricultural and manual labor training school for freedme n and fugitives, as the nucleus of Dawn, a black coop­ erative settlement. Soon a saw and grist mill , a brickyard and a church were erected, and approximately 500 souls settled in an expanding black community. Six years later, Henson stepped onto the world's stage in a small way with the pub­ At the John Freeman \'(la /ls Historic Site. lication of his biography, The Life of Josiah /Jenson, Formerly a Slave, he Upper Canada Abolition explored at the North American Now an Inhabitant of Canada. Act of 1793, which placed Black Historical Museum and Three years later, with the pub­ limited constraints on exist­ Cultural Centre in Amherstburg. lication of Harriet Beeche r Stowe's ing slavery and which es­ Although the museum covers black Uncle Tom 's Cabin, Henson's role Td that any slave newly en­ history fro m Africa to the present, on that stage would assume larger tablishe (identi­ tering the province, whether with its focus is the Underground Rail­ proportion , and the man notes as the his or her master or in flight from road and the black settlements of fied in Stowe's source bondage, would be deemed legally southwestern Ontario. Slave sale model for the novel's protagonist) sub­ free, was enacted the same year the bills, maps of fugitive routes, con­ would be forever diminished, Uncle U.S. Congress passed its first Fugi­ temporaneous newspaper ac­ sumed within the identity of tive Slave Law. The Canadian news counts of black settlements, a log Tom. While this identity conferred cer­ quickJy spread south to the United cabin circa 1855, a small genea­ be nefits--it was, for example, States, and by the Lime the first logical fil e and black-oriented vid­ tainly the basis of his visit to Brit­ black national convention in the eotapes offer visitors a window ain, during which he met with all the United States met in 1830, Canada o nto a world with which most Queen Victoria-it made it Dawn was well-known as a refuge for es­ North Americans, on both sides harder to hide when the ca pees. Convention delegates ap­ of the border, are unfamilia r. community collapsed amid scandal proved of migration there even as While many free blacks moved and charges of fraud. Dawn they decisively rejected a homeland north, the most dramatic migration Today, visitors LO the old Uncle in Liberia. to Canada involved those flee ing settlement will find the Migration to Canada accelerated slavery-and even today, the most Tom's Cabin Historic Site. The the in the 1830s as restraints on free emotionally compelling Canadian house in which I Jenson li ved, buried, black existence in America were in­ sites Lied to 19th-century African cemetery in which he is in tensified and as Benjamin Lundy's Americans interpret the s tory of the the community-erected church The Genius of Universal Emancipa­ flight to freedom. In 1830, Josiah which he preached, the building laves first were tion reported on the greater racial Henson loaded his family into a in which fugitive s Dawn, equality north of the border. (Dur­ small boat and crossed the Ohio housed upon their arrival al ing Lundy's Ontario, Canada, visit River, leaving Kentucky and bond­ an agricultural building complete me of of 1832, he found more than 300 age behind and setting o ut on the with period implements, so a African Americans living in frightening road of a freedom still the original school buildings, Amherstburg; "a considerable settle­ in jeopardy from slave catchers. For Henson memorial plaque, and a by museum with modest holdings I ment" at Chatham; several hundred two weeks the family traveled souls near London; and distinct night and hid by day, before finally (period furnishings, slave handcuffs of black districts at Woolrich and Oro reaching a northern sanctuary. and chains, and a first edition ) in­ I Township.) Once in Canada, Henson settled l lenson's 1849 autobiography All this history and more are down to providing for his family, terpret the man and the all-black I

22 American Vision, community that provided refuge to Chatham Journal asked whether fugitives from slavery. Visitors here "the intelligent, honest and indus­ get an added bonus: The site is run trious citizens of any township in by Henson's great-great-grand­ Canada would submit to having daughter, who is proud to cell the 1,000 coloured paupers introduced story of her family's roots. into their community, to have the Even as the Dawn colony sank whole township government con­ into acrimony and dispute, another trolled and its officers selected by black settlement was demonstrating them, to have their sons and daugh­ that African-American cooperative ters educated under the same roof colonies could prosper-albeit at with ·a Black man for a teacher. ... the initial expense, at least in this Let Walpole Island be purchased particular case, of paternalistic white The Firsc Baptist Church in Chatham. from or an exchange made with the leadership. William King arrived in Indians, and let the African be as Canada in 1846 as a reverend, a slaves. Incontinently inheriting hu­ nearly by himself as possible." widower and an abolitionist with a man chattel upon the death of his Despite these reservations, King past: Years earlier, as an Irish im­ father-in-law, King resolved to free persevered. Among the new Elgin migrant to America, he had mar­ them and establish them and other Settlement's first colonists were the ried into a slave-owning Louisiana b lack refugees on a Canadian various slaves King had acquired family and had himself purchased colony in Buxton, near Chatham, through or in connection with his a slave. Ontario. first marriage, two of whom went Shortly after his arrival in Canada, His proposal was not welcomed on to fight in the Union ranks dur­ King was working with fugitive by many local residents. The ing the Civil War. One reason that

DISCOVER THE TRAGEDY AND THE TRIUMPH AT . UNCLE TOM'S CABIN HISTORIC SITE

part of the African OF TH! NATIONS "The Road That Led To Somewhere by Dr. Canadian Bryan E. Walls is a documented novel, an epic heritage story of one family's journey along the tour Underground Railroad to freedom in Canada." June 9, 10 and Historians estimated that before the American Civil War, 40,000 freedom seekers escaped slavery 16, 17, 18, 1995 via the Underground Railroad, after the war 20,000 returned. The Road That Led To Somewhere is a documented novel about one of Uncle Tom•, Cabin Hletorlc 11te Windsor's those pioneers who decided to remain in Canada. tel11 the etory of Joelah Henion, a black eecaped slave who followed Ethnocultural Festival TO ORDER; the underground railroad to freedom 5 The Road That Led To Somewhere 15.00 In Canada. Hie llfe story waa the Twentieth and Education Package - 525,00 basis for Harriet Beecher Stowe's Anniversary! (A unit of study- based on Dr. Walls' novel and the famous novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. John Freeman Walls Historical Site and Tour the newly restored home of Underground Railroad Museum.) Henson and other hletorlc bulldlngs Free admission. Please Send Cheque or Money Order plus $3.00 along with a newly bullt museum and Plenty of food, postage and handling for each order to Interpretive centre detalllng the entertainment and cultural Proverbs Heritage Organization llfe of this truly extraordinary man. 1307 Pelissier St., Windsor, Ont. NSX 1M4 A story of courage and hope that displays. Phone: (5 19) 258-6253 • Fax (5 I 9) 258-5499 haa Inspired people of all races. Call: Multicultural Council of Windsor & Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Essex County, 370 Victoria Avenue History is j ust another way of UNCLE TOllfS CABIN HISTORIC SITE Windsor, Ontario Canada N9A 4H6 saying His Story or Gods Story R.R. #5, DRESDEN, ONT. OLIVE PUBLISHING LIMITED CANADA, NOP 1MO 519•683•2878 (519) 255-1127

Underground Railroad 1995 23 (") 0 C ;:,. (I) '<"'

m "'~ " ~ settlement, which eventually em- ¾ braced almost 100 families. The ::, a." Walls' cabin served as an Under­ ;ii ground Railroad terminus and as ii" the first meeting place of the Puce in ii, ::, Baptist Church. Following tl1e Civil a. (") War, many of the settlement's < CJ former slaves returned to tl1e United States, but Walls and his wife rayed on in Canada. Today, the descendants of John and Jane Walls operate the John Freeman Walls Historic Site and Underground Railroad Museum. The museum is housed in the re­ stored log cabin built in 1846, on whose walls one can still see in­ scribed the initials 'J.W." These Walls have voices, which they use to speak about the slave trade, trac­ The North Ameria111 Black Hiscorical Museum and Cultural Cenffe explores the story ing the diaspora ·s experience from of the diaspora nord1 of the U.S.-Canadian border. Africa to Canada. A pathway has been ca1ved tl1rough the site's 22 the settlement succeeded in attract­ old Second School (1861) and the acres and is used to si mulate a ing colonists was the education it old settlement cemetery (1857). slave's journey north. Tape record­ offered. Henry Johnston enrolled earby are the British Methodist ings of barking clogs and burbling his son in King's school, explaining Episcopal Church (1855) and the streams acid an element of verisi­ that while he had "left the States for First Baptist Church (1883), which militude to the journey, which con­ Canada for 1ights, freedom, and lib­ testify to tl1e 19th-centu1y growth cludes with the arrival at the 1846 eny, I came to Buxton to educate of a black community in Canada. cabin in which John and Jane Walls my children." (Three generations of While North Buxton roday re­ found freedom and built a future Johnstons still can be found in the tains many remnants of its black for themselves and their descen­ Buxton area.) This was no mere me­ past, old South Buxton has few. dants. Further information on the chanical and agricultural trade school. One of its most prominent is St. struggles of the founding Walls can Latin and Greek prepared the stu­ Andrew's Presbyterian Church. be found in B1yan Walls' book, The dents for college, and all of the Still hanging in the church·s steeple Road That Led Somewhere. school's first graduating class went is a bell inscribed "Presented to the However many African Ameri­ on to higher education. Rev. William King by the coloured cans fled north to build their fu­ Today, North Buxton, as the area inhabitants of Pittsburgh." The 500- ture, the greater number remained of the old Elgin Settlement is now pound bell was originally placed in behind-eitl1er in shackles or in ac­ known, is a middle-class black com­ King's garden and, in accordance ti ve oppositi on to slavery. And munity. Its residents, many the de­ with the request of its black do­ Ontario tells meir story, as well. In scendants of the original colonists, nors, was rung at dawn and dusk May of 1858, John Brown-soon justifiably take pride in their heri­ to remind the Elgin brethre n of to be famous for his raid on the tage, much of which can be traced their liberty. Today, access to the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Feny-and at the Raleigh Township Centen­ bell is difficult, necessitating a climb various associates, white and black, nial Museum. Here, visitors view up a ladder that is not likely to arrived in Chatham to hold a con­ a slide presentation outlining the encourage repeat visits. vention to form a government in histo1y of the Elgin community, ar­ Not all who fled north, however, exile and lay the foundation for an tifacts and diaries of the colonists, settled into communities overseen insurrection leading to the establish­ artifacts and the papers of King, by white philanthropists. In 1846, ment of a revolutionary regime on census data from 1851, and family me escaped North Carolinian slave liberated territory in the United trees that trace yet another achieve­ John Freeman Walls and his wife States. Chatham, a principal termi­ ment of the diaspora. Part of the Jane King Walls constructed a log nus of the Underground Railroad, museum complex is the adjacent cabin as members of tl1e Puce River held the promise of safety, as fully

24 Amt:rican Vi sions one-third of the community was arrived runaways), the church's origi­ migrations. In mid-May, the trees black and many of its members nal woodwork, a plaque naming the o f Point Pelee National Park fill were fugitive slaves. church officers of the time, and the with songbirds, whlle in the fall , In the guise of a fraternal meet­ foundation stone. monarch butterflies, Canadian geese ing, 35 African Americans and 12 More than the histo1y of African­ and hawks fiJI the sky. Best bets whjtes gathered at the First Baptist American migration, however, will for where to catch a sight of them? Church, which had been con­ draw you north, particularly in t11e Try the Holiday Beach Conserva­ structed in 1841 by fugitive slaves. spring and autumn. Songbirds, mon­ tion Area and Jack Miner's Bird Among those present were Ma1tin archs and Canadian geese all make Sanctuary. Thank heavens for me Delany, the 19th century's leading a stop in Essex County during their North Star! - H enry Chase black nationalist and a close col­ league of Frederick Douglass; the Rev. W.C. Monroe, a black minis­ ter from Detroit, who was elected chairman of the gathering; John Tuke an exciting Henry Kagi, who was elected sec­ retary of war; Brown's sons, Owen and John (the former of whom side-trip from your would survive the raid on Harpers Feny and die in California in 1891); Isaac Shadd and the husbands of Underground Railroad Julia and Mary Ann Shadd; and Os borne Perry Anderson , who • would escape Harpers Feny and expenence. write about the raid in Ma1y Ann Shadd's newspaper, The Provincial As you visit the many historic stops along the Freeman. r , Underground Railroad, be sure to experience the thrill Today, outside the First Baptist Church, a John Brown Meeting of Vegas style gaming at Canada's # I commercial House Historical Marker com­ tourist attraction, Casino W indsor. For memorates the final gathering place more details, please call of the conspirators. Inside the (5 19) 258-7878 church is the table around which Brown, Delany, Kagi and others plotted to overthrow slave rule in the United States. Note: Excepting church services, access to the church interior and the table is by appoint­ CASINO ment; inte rested visitors should con­ WINDSOR tact the Convention and Visitors Bu­ reau of Windsor, Essex County and W INDSOR • ONTARIO • CANAOA Pelee Island, (800) 265-3633. One more local church figures prominently in Canada's black heri­ tage. In 1851-a year after the U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act- runaway African Americans in Windsor erected the Sandwich First Baptist Church, not far from the Detroit River's edge that defined their security. Today's visitors see some of the original hand-formed bricks that composed the exterior of the church, the original cellar (which provided refuge for recently

Underground Railroad I 995 25 WHERE TO FIND WHAT YOU WANT

Be sure to call ahead for days and hours of operation and for admission fees.

DETROIT

Metropolitan Detroit Convention & Visitors Bureau 100 Renaissance Center Suite 100 48243 (800) DETROIT, ext. 1113

Detroit Historical Museum 5401 Woodword Avenue 48202 (313) 833-1805

Detroit Institute of Arts 5200 Woodword Avenue 48202 (313) 833-7900 Allen Memorial Alt Museum in Oberlin.

Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village GREENE COUNTY Paul Laurence Dunbar 20900 Oakwood Boulevard House Dearborn 48124 Greene County Convention & 219 No1th Summit Avenue (313) 336-0367 Visitors Bureau Dayton 45407 3335 East Patterson Road (513) 224-7061 Motown Historical Museum Beavercreek 45430 2648 West Grand Boulevard (800) 733-9109 or (513) 429- Greene County Underground 48208 9100 Railroad Tour (313) 875-2264 (800) 733-9109 or (800) BLK­ Blue Jacket Drama HIST Museum of African Caesar Ford Park American History Xenia 45385 Historic Clifton Mill 301 Frederick Douglass (513) 376-4318 75 Water Street Boulevard 48202 Clifton 45316 (313) 833-9800 Dayton Black Cultural (513) 767-5501 Festival Your Heritage House P.O. Box 39 National Afro-American 110 East Ferry Street 48202 Dayton 45402 Museum and Cultural Center (313) 871-1667 July 14-16, 1995 1350 Brush Row Road

26 American Visions Wilberforce 45384 [ First Church )( (513) 376-4944 or (800) BLK-HIST r Corner SR511 and SR50 C :, -:.: Tour information: Wilberforce University Qo (800) 334-1673

1055 North Bickett la, Wilberforce 45384 [§: Kanisa House (513) 376-2911 o 142 Cleveland Street < a, Elyria 44035 Col. Charles Young House (216) 366-5656 State Route 42 between Brush Row Road and Stevenson Road Jackson Park in Windsor, Ontario. Martin Luther King Jr. Park c/o (513) 376-4944 East Vine Street

Allen Memorial Art John Mercer Langston House OBERLIN Museum 207 East College Street 87 North Main Street 44704 Lorain County Visitors (216) 775-8665 Monroe House Bureau Free South Professor Street behind 611 Broadway music conservatory Lorain 44052 Evans House Tour information: (800) 334-1673 33 East Vine Street (216) 774--1700

Could This Really Be Motown, Or Is It Just My Imagination?

People are awestruck by the modest little house Hitsville USA, the birthplace of the Motown Sound, in Detroit where Little Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and is now home to the Motown Historical Museum. Pre­ the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Four serving the legacy of one of America's greatest his­ Tops, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Gladys torical phenomena. Knight and the Pips, Michael Jackson, and many oth­ If you're in Detroit, this is o ne tour you can't af­ ers recorded a new kind of music that touched the ford to miss. For tour information, call Motown His­ world. torical Museum, 1-313-875-2264.

Underground Railroad 1995 27 Monteith Hall ONTARIO 218 East Avenue Elyria 44035 Convention & Visitors Group tour: Bureau of Windsor, Essex call Visitors Bureau County and Pelee Island Suite 103, City Center Oberlin College 333 Riverside Drive West 101 North Professor Street Windsor N9A 5K4 44074 (800) 265-3633 (216) 775-8121 Oberlin students re-enact Underground John Brown Meeting House Railroad flight. Shurtleff Statue Historical Marker Corner Morgan and South First Baptist Church, 233 King Raleigh Township Professor streets Street East, Chatham N7M 3Nl Centennial Museum North Buxton NOP IYO Tappan Square Holiday Beach (519) 352-4799 Corner SR58 and SR511 Conservation Area Take Hwy. 401 to Bloomfield 360 Fairview Avenue West Road; west on 8th Concession; Underground Railroad Essex N8M 1Y6 south on Country Road 6 Monument (519) 736-3772 Westwood Cemetery Sandwich First Morgan Street Jack Miner's Bird Sanctuary Baptist Church P.O. Box 39, Third Concession, 3652 Peter Street Underground Railroad Kingsville N9Y 2E8 Windsor N9C 1J8 Sculpture (519) 733-4034 (519) 252-4917 Outside Talcott Hall , South Professor Street North American Black St. Andrew's Historical Museum Presbyte rian Church David Webster House 277 King Street, Box 12 RR 5 Merlin 46785 SR18 Amherstburg N9V 2C7 South Buxton NOP 1WO Wellington (519) 736-5433 Open fo r regular Sunday services Westwood Cemetery Point Pelee National Park Morgan Street RR 1, Leamington N8H 3V4 Uncle Tom's Tour information: (800) 334-1673 (519) 326-2365 Cabin Historic Site RR 5, Dresden NOP IMO (519) 683-2978 Located on Kent County Road THE ROAD THAT LED TO FREEDOM 40, just southwest of Dresden

Jou11N11:Y through the museums, churches off Park Street and attractions along the Underground Great Adventure Railroad in Ontario, Canada. Your African Tour Packages: John Freeman Walls American Heritage Tour will be lead by 1 · 800· 638· 3945 Historic Site and know ledgeable guides and include quality Hotel Directly: Underground Railroad accommodations at the (51 9 )256· 4656 Museum Howard Johnson Plaza-Hotel Windsor. (519) 258-6253 HOWARD Located 8 miles east of JOHNSON Windsor/ Detroit border in ~. Maidstone Township ( 401 exit Plaza-Hotel Windsor 4 3 0 0 u e 11e t t e Ave , Wi n d s o r, 0 n ta r i o N9 A I B2 Puce Road, north 1 mile)

28 American Visions