® Underground Railroad Free Press Independent reporting on today’s Underground Railroad November, 2010 urrfreepress.com Volume 5, Issue 27 Dalai Lama Receives Freedom Center Award urrFreePress.com Said Freedom Center CEO Donald Murphy, "We are tremendously honored and gratified ! that His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, will accept our Freedom Conductor Award, which goes to Editorial individuals and organizations that have been Keep "Uncle Tom's Kitchen" conspicuous and effective champions of free- dom. The Dalai Lama's tireless efforts on be- Our front-page article in this is- half of Tibet - and his life-long advocacy of sue recounts the odd situation of freedom and peace for all people - are in the the old cabin in Bethesda, Mar y- finest traditions of those abolitionists who land, which had been purported fought for the eradication of slavery in the to be the "original Uncle Tom's 18th and 19th Centuries." Cabin." Since its 2006 purchase, this has been regarded as the In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in the face single most important Under- of persecution by China and has been living in Dharamsala, India, the seat of the Tibetan ground Railroad find. political administration in exile. He was the What there is no disagreement recipient of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. about is that the farm where the cabin is located is indeed where His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, the Past Freedom Conductor Award recipients in- prominent Underground Railroad Tibetan head of state and spiritual leader of clude civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, South figure Josiah Henson was en- the Tibetan Buddhist Church, was awarded African Bishop Desmond Tutu and former slaved for 35 years before his the International Freedom Conductor Award Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton escape to Canada and fame. It by the National Underground Railroad Free- for their work fundraising for Hurricane Ka- was Henson upon whom Harriet dom Center on October 20. trina and Indian Ocean tsunami survivors. Beecher Stowe modeled the Doubt Over Building Thought to Be Uncle Tom's Cabin eponymous title figure of her terpret the property to the public and even 1852 blockbuster, Uncle Tom's It was the all-time Underground Railroad ar- cheological find but now it is in doubt. whether to keep or sell it. Shown here is the Cabin, still ranked as the most debated cabin now thought to be a kitchen. influential book ever authored In 2006 when the owner of the property died, by an American. the Maryland-National Capital Park and Plan- When at the peak of the housing ning Commission bought the old Bethesda, bubble in 2006 the local park Maryland, farmhouse with its adjoining cabin commission purchased the Riley thought to have been where Josiah Henson Farm where the cabin sits, it had been enslaved. Now, it appears that the paid top price on the belief that cabin was merely a kitchen and that Henson the cabin was the actual spot actually lived in the farm's slave quarters no where Henson lived. However, it longer standing. seems that some at the time of Officials now question the million-dollar pur- the purchase were telling the chase of the property, especially since ap- However, many officials and historians agree Commission and the county gov- parently there was discussion at the time that the property's proven association to Hen- ernment which authorized the that the cabin was not the one after which son is uniquely important in its own right. See purchase that in fact the cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe's book took it name. the Free Press editorial in this issue for opin- was the farmhouse's kitchen and The Commission is debating how now to in- ion on this coming decision. that Henson would have resided in slave quarters now long gone. Archeological Digs Reveal Black Life in 1800s and Earlier There was plenty of blame to go Timbuctoo, New Jersey. Blackdom, New Mex- as builders and contributors to this nation." around when this warning resur- ico. New Philadelphia, Illinois. Hall Town, faced last month. Maryland. The extensive rediscovered African Timbuctoo went from 37 buildings in the 1860 census to one church ten years ago to burial ground in New York City. So, if there is no Uncle Tom's nothing today. Local descendants say that Cabin after all, what to do? New archaeological work on lost African- better economic opportunities elsewhere Some now feel that the property American communities led mainly by black gradually drained the village which had been has insignificant historical value academicians, politicians and museum staff is an Underground Railroad stop. Some sites and should be sold to help the busy digging out the past. Says Rex Ellis of such as Hall Town were maroon communities cash-strapped county. Others say the Smithsonian Institution, "The tradition founded in hard-to-access locations. that Henson's proven association has been to overlook these things in the past. For us, this activity will contribute apprecia- For more on digs around the country, search with the property is more than on Timbuctoo at washingtonpost.com. (continued on page two) bly to our understanding of African Americans Toronto's York University enough to warrant keeping the New Gettysburg Underground Railroad Tour property even if the county can As Debra McCauslin puts it, "Thousands visit no longer claim to have rescued !"#$%&'%()*+$,-./0*%(*1'.*!1$,(1%2*3#/$45**** "Uncle Tom's Cabin." According Gettysburg every year to learn about the ef- to a long October 3 article in The fects and aftermath of the Civil War. On your *******************!"#$%&'(#)*)+,'($-./0)+.(1$/'$* next visit, take some time to learn about a 1'.*!6./%2,&7*!8/%2,7*,(4*9:/#;.* Washington Post, the latter opin- ! cause of the war." ion seems to be carrying the day. ******************<(1./(,1%#(,$*=#(8./.(2.***** McCauslin's cause, of course, is the Under- ****************!;/%$*>*?@A7*BA@@* Free Press supports this view and !"#$%&'()*+,*-%)("#"./%)*0$&1".$)*2&34.",*5".6(74*.8*49(*:$;&4$1*0(#&.%<*=%7>** urges the Board of County Com- ground Railroad. She operates the Quaker *2.34()*+,*0/33(11*?$#(*:.11(#(<*@".,<*A(B*C."D** Valley Underground Railroad Tour featuring ! missioners of Montgomery County 5*********************************************** visits to, among other places, two verified !"#$%&"'()"*+",( to keep and promote this nation- -,*$+./$'!$/01&2'3142'5%6/$'7.*8+69,$2'3142':%$#'79,,%901('' ally important historic site. Underground Railroad sites, the Yellow Hill ' Cemetery where a pre-Civil War African ;<=='>%,+(1%)'?*@)./$0'' In our next issue, we will reveal American community existed, and the Me- !"#$%&'()*+&,+-&.$&'.).+&,+-! another Maryland farm where nallen Friends Meetinghouse and cemetery !/+0+(12)&345()*)&+-&+(&6)#20+! !7)#$$-+1&'.).+8&9)#1"#$%!&%'()(%'(%*(!+%!,-+.+! Henson lived and his probable where Quakers still meet for worship today. !:;+&<=#25)-&>2)4?$#)&<%$-@&A#)B2(2)-&C%%2@#)-.4& blood relation to a president. The tour concludes with a slide presentation +%!./(!0121! !D#++(+EF&7)#GF&>$H@()44F&)-1&.;+&D+#%)-&IJ+#4&! telling stories of a number of local Under- !'2#+-4&$=&.;+&'+)&"!3(4-5(!25-6(!2/+)!78%(9:!!!!!!!!!!!!! How to Subscribe ground Railroad figures including Kitty Payne $;!./(!!<.5-%.+*!#$95'! Free Press subscriptions are free. To !/+424.)-5+F&/+42(2+-5EF&)-1&6$-.2-H2.E8&.;+&&&&&&& subscribe, send email addresses of those and her three children who were kidnapped in you would like to receive Free Press to 1845 after having been freed from slavery. =-4-+*-%!>-9$$%:! ! [email protected]. ! ! The tour locale sits amidst a dense network of !"#$%&'($)*+,(+-($&.$/011$2&,.#-#,2#)3$$4445#-%6)$7&-(#892"$$! View or Add to Datebook !!!"#$%&'()$"*'(*+++,-.%+$%/01$2,3$&* Email us about upcoming events and we Underground Railroad routes and safe-houses will add them to our website's Datebook. extending up from Frederick County, Mary- Click on Datebook at urrFreePress.com to land, and branching off to the famous sites of Underground Railroad Free Press accepts view a comprehensive calendar of events. Columbia and Christiana, Pennsylvania. tasteful, nonpolitical advertising. Click on Send News, Letters, Articles or Ads the Submissions link at the Free Press web- News, letters or articles: Tours are by appointment. Visit freedomlies- site for rates and layout specifications. [email protected] north.org to schedule or for more information. Advertising: [email protected] See the notice on our website for specifications, rates and restrictions. National Geographic Films Abby Hopper Gibbons Documentary th Link Your Web Site or View Lynx On November 9, National Geographic began ing place on location on 29 Street in Man- Visit our website to view Lynx, links to shooting a documentary film on the life of hattan where Hopper-Gibbons House and other Underground Railroad organizations. Abby Hopper Gibbons, a New York City aboli- Luskin's homes are located. To add your link, email its web address to tionist and Underground Railroad operator. [email protected]. In Underground Railroad days and at the time Free Press Prize Nominations Fern Luskin, who lives near the Manhattan of the draft riots, Hopper-Gibbons House was Click on Prizes at the Free Press website home where Gibbons grew up, says that the owned by Gibbons' father, Isaac Hopper, an to learn more about these annual prizes film will concentrate on the New York draft ardent abolitionist. Because of the home's or to download a nomination form. riots of 1863 in which what is now known as Underground Railroad roles, the City Council Underground Railroad Free Press® Hopper-Gibbons House was sacked, and on of New York designated the Lamartine Place Independent Reporting On northern women's' roles in the Civil War. neighborhood as a historical landmark earlier Today’s Underground Railroad in 2010. Disputes continue between neigh- One segment of the film will tell the story of Peter H.