The 2015 Free Press Survey of the International Community

Commissioned by Underground Railroad Free Press June 2015 About the Free Press Surveys

The annual Underground Railroad Free Press surveys are the only surveys of the international Underground Railroad community. Since 2007, the Free Press surveys have provided valuable information not available elsewhere on Underground Railroad knowledge, attitudes, practices, economics and trends. Each year, full survey results are made available to the community and to executives of the major American and Canadian Underground Railroad organizations. Results also help Free Press in shaping its future content and programs. A summary of 2015 results appears in the July, 2015 issue of Free Press. Full results of this and all previous surveys may be viewed or downloaded at the Archives page of our website.

How the Survey Measures

In the one-to-ten scale below, average appears twice since mean and median of a 10-point scale are 5.5.

Mean: the sum of observations divided by the number of observations Median: the middle observation in a ranked series Ratings 1 Lowest possible 6 Average 2 Very low 7 Above average 3 Low 8 High 4 Below average 9 Very high 5 Average 10 Highest possible

Trends No change ⬌ Improved ⬆ ︎ Declined ⬇ ︎ Summary of Main Findings

! The Underground Railroad Community ! Underground Railroad knowledge, involvement in programs and visits to sites all rose in 2015. ! Program budget increases outnumbered declines nearly 2 to 1. ! The most typical member of the international Underground Railroad community is a female writer, researcher or program CEO 60 or older, but many others are involved. ! Underground Railroad Free Press ! Free Press is rated as the most familiar and most effective private or public Underground Railroad institution. ! Ratings of the Free Press Lynx registry, Datebook event calendar, annual prizes, reporting and programs are the highest ever. ! Subscribers forward Free Press issues to about 26,000 others. Underground Railroad Knowledge and Status How would you rate your overall knowledge of the Underground Railroad?

Mean rating: 7.8 Median rating: 7 Year-to-year trend: ⬆ ︎ Knowledge of the Underground Railroad is on the upswing. Academic Articles Which are your Books primary sources of information on Internet the Underground Railroad? Network to Freedom Underground Railroad Year-to-year trend: ⬌ Free Press Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Other Underground Railroad 76.1% Market Shares of Free Press Underground Railroad Underground Railroad Freedom Center 12.4% News Publications newsletter Year-to-year trend: ⬆ ︎ Network to Freedom (for Free Press) 11.5% Conductor newsletter Have you ever visited Yes: 74.2% an Underground Railroad safe-house or route? Year-to-year trend: ⬌ No: 25.8% Environment of the International Underground Railroad Community How long have you been involved with Underground Railroad matters?

Mean length: 15.1 years Median length: 11-15 years Year-to-year trend: ⬇︎

Shorter involvement in 2015 could be due to an increase in newcomers to the Underground Railroad community. Yes: 44.2% Are you directly involved with an Underground Railroad site, organization or program? ⬆ No: 55.8% Year-to-year trend: ︎ In which of the following ranges is your site’s or your organization’s current annual budget? Mean budget: $20,350 Mean budget of those with revenues: $47,995 Median budget: No budget Year-to-year trend: ⬇

In an improving economy, a lower average budget could mean an increase in recent start-ups of Underground Railroad sites and programs, a good thing. How did the revenues of your organization change from 2013 to last year?

Year-to-year trend: ⬌ ︎ Twice as many now grow as decline, the opposite case during the Great Recession. However, this ratio slipped since its peak in 2013. Growth: 23.7% Decline: 12.4% Growth/decline: 1.9 to 1 Previous growth/decline: 2.6 to 1 What Underground Railroad safe-house or route do you most recommend to visit?

See the summary on the slide after next

The reconstructed slave pen at Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center What is special about the site you chose in the last question?

See the summary on the next slide

Salem Chapel Underground Railroad site, St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada Favorite Sites and Why There were nearly a hundred mentions including duplicates. Receiving three or more mentions were: • House, Fountain City, Indiana • Estate, Peterboro, • Underground Railroad Route, Maryland’s Eastern Shore • Parker and Rankin Houses, Ripley, Ohio • Johnson House, Germantown, Pennsylvania • Cooling Springs Farm, Adamstown, Maryland

Most frequent reasons given for mentions were good interpretation and displays, authentic The Mayhew Cabin in City, Nebraska, preservation, and connections to famous the westernmost surviving safe-house Underground Railroad people.

Opinions on Underground Railroad Free Press How important is it to the Underground Railroad community to have Free Press’s Lynx central registry?

Mean rating: 9.2 Median rating: 9 (nearly 10) Year-to-year trend: ⬌ New Lynx Listings

Thirty-three Underground Railroad sites or organizations submitted by 2015 survey respondents have been listed at the Lynx registry, now totaling 147 contemporary Underground Railroad organizations in the United States and Canada.

The spring house Underground Railroad safe- house at Maryland’s Cooling Springs Farm How important is it to the Underground Railroad community to have the Free Press Datebook community calendar?

Mean rating: 8.9 Median rating: 9 Year-to-year trend: ⬌ New Datebook Listings

Events submitted by 2015 survey respondents were added to Datebook.

Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio How important is it to the Underground Railroad community to have the annual Free Press Prizes?

Mean rating: 8.3 Median rating: 8 Year-to-year trend: ⬌ Most preferable Underground Railroad reading

Year-to-year trend: This was a new question for the 2015 survey. Ratings on relevance of topics reported in Underground Railroad Free Press

Mean rating: 8.7 Median rating: 8 Year-to-year trend: ⬆ ︎

Ratings of how well topics are reported in Underground Railroad Free Press

Mean rating: 8.7 Median rating: 8 Year-to-year trend: ⬆ ︎

Short articles pointing to more information Preferred article length Longer articles providing a digest of a topic Year-to-year trend: ⬌

Lengthier articles fully covering a topic Overall ratings of Free Press as an Underground Railroad news publication

Mean rating: 8.7 Median rating: 8 Year-to-year trend: ⬆ ︎ Overall ratings of the usefulness of Free Press programs to the Underground Railroad community

Mean rating: 9.1 Median rating: 8 Year-to-year trend: ⬆ ︎

Programs include the Free Press Prizes, Lynx, Datebook, Free Press Books, the annual surveys, archives, advertising, advocacy and the newsletter.

Suggestions to improve usefulness of Free Press programs to the Underground Railroad community Most frequent comments were of the nature of “no change necessary.” Other comments suggested more coverage of particular locales or regions, longer articles, shorter articles, a more scholarly tone, more content suitable for school children, and more frequent The hiding spot in the Levi Coffin House, publication. Fountain City, Indiana Suggestions to improve the Free Press newsletter

Suggestions here were very similar to those provided in the previous question.

Interior of the Farmington Quaker Meeting House, Farmington, New York New Subscribers

Free Press thanks the many survey respondents who submitted email addresses for those they wanted added as subscribers. New subscribers have been welcomed, given life-time subscriptions, and provided with the issue of Free Press current as of the survey.

The Kennedy Farm House, John Brown’s staging site near Sharpsburg, Maryland Free Press Readership Yes: Have you ever 81.3% received an email notice announcing an issue of Free Press?

Year-to-year trend: ⬆ ︎ No: 18.7% How often do you read Underground Railroad Free Press?

Year-to-year trend: ⬌ How many others do you notify when Free Press issues become available, or provide Free Press to, or send the link to the latest issue to?

Nearly six of every ten subscribers forward Free Press or notifications of new issues to others. Those doing so notify an average of 7.8 nonsubscribers, resulting in more than 26,000 additional readers of The tableau of wax figures between floors at each issue beyond the Free Press Dobbin House, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, subscriber base. perhaps the most authentic display of an actual Underground Railroad hiding spot. Thank you! Contemporary Underground Railroad Institutions How familiar would you say you are with the following modern Underground Railroad institutions?

Mean Familiarity Ratings

Underground Railroad Free Press 7.0 National Park Service Network to Freedom program 5.9 National Underground Railroad Freedom Center 5.0 National Museum of African-American History and Culture 4.2 National Geographic online Underground Railroad program 3.8 Yale University Gilder-Lehrman Center 3.8 MapMuse Underground Railroad site map 3.0 Swarthmore College Underground Railroad program 3.0 York University Harriet Tubman Institute 2.8 Menare Foundation 2.7 US Department of Education Underground Railroad program 2.5 University of Louisville Underground Railroad Institute 1.9

! Mean familiarity overall: 3.8, Low ! Median familiarity overall: 3.4, Low ! Year-to-year trend: ⬌ How effective in promoting and building the awareness of the Underground Railroad would you say are these Underground Railroad institutions?

Mean Effectiveness Ratings

Underground Railroad Free Press 6.8 National Park Service Network to Freedom program 5.2 National Underground Railroad Freedom Center 4.4 National Museum of African-American History and Culture 3.8 National Geographic online Underground Railroad program 3.7 Yale University Gilder-Lehrman Center 3.4 MapMuse Underground Railroad site map 2.9 Swarthmore College Underground Railroad program 2.8 York University Harriet Tubman Institute 2.5 Menare Foundation 2.5 US Department of Education Underground Railroad program 2.3 University of Louisville Underground Railroad Institute 1.7

! Mean effectiveness overall: 3.5, Low ! Median effectiveness overall: 3.15, Low ! Year-to-year trend: ⬇ Community Demographics In which category is your age? Mean age: 60.1 Median age: 60s Year-to-year trend: ⬌

75% of the international Underground Railroad community are 60 or older. The community needs to attract younger people. Women 59.3%

Which is your gender?

Year-to-year trend: A higher proportion of women in 2015 Men 40.7% Types of Underground Railroad Involvement

Types of Involvement

Writer or researcher 37.8% Private-sector program operator, employee or volunteer 19.3% No involvement but interested in Underground Railroad 19.3% University or college faculty 18.5% Program donor or donor employee or volunteer 15.1% Descendant of an Underground Railroad figure 11.8% Other state or local government employee 10.9% Underground Railroad site owner or operator 8.4% Public-sector program operator, employee or volunteer 6.7% Grade school, middle school or high school faculty 6.7% Elected public official 4.2% Staff of other public official 2.5% Other federal government employee 2.5% Staff of elected public official 0.8%

Since respondents could select multiple involvements, the total sums to more than 100%. Which occupational title level best describes your primary position in employment whether or not it involves the Underground Railroad?

Respondent Title Level

CEO/Board member/Executive Director/General Manager 22.1% COO/Vice President/Deputy Administrator 2.9% CFO/Controller/Treasurer/Staff-level director 1.0% Full Professor 8.7% Associate or Assistant Director/Associate or Assistant Professor 18.3% Manager 10.6% Analyst/Accountant/Professional/Staff officer 8.7% Supervisor/Coordinator 20.2% Clerical staff 4.8% Student or Intern 2.9%

Retirees were asked to select the title best describing their highest position before retiring. Geographical Distribution of Survey Respondents

Canada, United Kingdom & Elsewhere 6.4%

Northeast 34.9% Mid-Atlantic West 10.1% 26.6% Midwest 12.8%

South 9.2% Survey background, reliability, and degree of confidence in survey results

Survey invitations were emailed to Free Press subscribers, all of whom could forward the invitation to others. Later a reinvitation was issued to boost sample size and therefore survey reliability. • Survey dates: June 3-18, 2015 • Sample size: 192 • Completion rate: 64.6% • Sampling fraction error reduction: 2.1% • Maximum random error: ±7.1% • Confidence interval of error: 95% Old Main, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, a • General confidence: Mild caution major Midwestern Underground Railroad hub

Thank You

Underground Railroad Free Press

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