Monthly Gathering—February 2004
The Underground Railroad and Detroit’s Pivotal Role in the Lifeline out of Slavery
Operating mostly from the 1830s to the early 1860s, the Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad, but a loosely constructed network of escape routes that originated in the South, intertwined throughout the North and eventually ended in Canada. It was a code phrase used by slaves, anti-slavery abolitionists and sympathizers to describe hundreds of improvised pathways that connected homes, barns and sheds that served as “stations” where fleeing slaves could eat and rest during their perilous journey to freedom. Most historians say more than 40,000 black slaves used this network to run away from slavery. Of course, Michigan, and especially Detroit, figured prominently in the railroad because of its proximity to Canada.
Want to hear more about this area’s vital relationship with the Underground Railroad? Join us on Saturday, February 21, when our guest speaker will be Norman McRae, Ph.D., former Detroit Historical Commissioner. McRae is a historian and author who focuses on the black experience in the United States. For more than 20 years, he has served on the governing board for the Detroit Historical Museum, Historic Fort Wayne and the Great Lakes Maritime Museum, and is an expert scholar on the Underground Railroad for the Detroit Museum of African American History.
Come and learn about Detroit’s leading role in one of the most dramatic and effective protest movements in United States history.
Page last updated: Monday, September 1, 2008