The National Park Service has added nine new listings to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
The listings join over 700 sites, facilities, and programs already in the Network and provide insight into the diverse experiences of freedom seekers who bravely escaped slavery and those who assisted them.
“Each addition to the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom centers around a story of hope in the face of hostility and oppression,” said Diane Miller, the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program manager. “Now in its 25th year, the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom continues to document and expand knowledge related to the Underground Railroad and increase public awareness of the struggle for freedom and equality endured by so many in our country’s history.”
The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom serves to honor, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, which continues to inspire people worldwide. The Network consists of locations in 39 states, plus Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Through its mission, the Network to Freedom helps to advance the idea that all human beings embrace the right to self-determination and freedom from oppression.
The new Network to Freedom listings are:
California:
San Mateo County- Samuel D. Burris Burial Site, Cypress Lawn Memorial Park
Georgia:
St. Simons Island- Fort Frederica National Monument
Illinois:
Downers Grove- Israel and Avis Blodgett House
Massachusetts:
Fall River- Dr. Isaac Fiske House
Boston- The Underground Railroad in Boston: A Self-Guided Audio Tour
New York:
Rochester- Douglass Family South Street Home Site
Ausable Chasm- Archive at the North Star Underground Railroad Museum
Montgomery County- Montgomery County Department of History & Archives
Pennsylvania:
Carlisle- House Divided Project at Dickinson College
Many National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom sites are privately owned. If the site is not open to the public, please respect the privacy of the owner. More info at www.nps.gov
