In Boone county, Kentucky, the newspapers in April, 1853 were filled with news of “slave stampedes.” It began on April 2 with 28 freedom seekers walking away from Petersburg through Cincinnati and up Hamilton Avenue with an overnight stop in College Hill. I was taken by surprise when I read that exactly today, 161 years ago,Harriet Tubman
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The cast of a new abolitionist docudrama that was being filmed at the Stowe House in late February welcomed local people to watch the filming and learn about their project. Len and I stopped by the Stowe house and met the cast of this exciting drama about the Lane Seminary Debates which started a national
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In a Public History Internship last summer, I was given the task of creating a video introduction for the living history tour “Hamilton Avenue Road to Freedom”. As a UC History major, and Electronic Media minor at the University of Cincinnati, this was the perfect opportunity to combine my two fields of study and apply
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Happy Valentine’s Day 2014. Will you save the valentines you get today? Will you get a valentine from someone who might someday become president? Helen L. Kemper kept this valentine she received from Benjamin Harrison in 1851 when he was a student at Miami University. Two years later he married Dr. Scott’s daughter, Caroline Scott
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Despite the increased renewal of interest in abolitionism, blacks have largely been absent from these portrayals. In Lincoln, black opposition to slavery was kept to a few scenes; PBS’ The Abolitionists profiled only one black abolitionist,Frederick Douglass; and in 12 Years a Slave, abolitionists are all white, ignoring even Solomon Northup’s role fighting slavery and demanding reparations after
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Thanks to John Johnson for a very nice article in the Sunday, Feb. 9th Enquirer “The mystery of John T. Crawford” on pages AA14-15. There is so much more to be told so we will post a new page under College Hill with more information about Mr. Crawford. He bought his farm here in
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Liberator (Boston, Mass.) Dec. 31, 1847 The New School Presbyterian Synod of Indiana, have declared against Slavery by resolving unanimously that it should be made a disciplinary offense by the church. This noble decision on the part of that body, may be credited to the indefatigable labors of the Rev. Jonathan Cable; the only minister
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In 1999 the Mt. Healthy City Council renamed a portion of Hamilton Avenue at Compton Road to commemorate Charles Cheney, who lived in Mt. Healthy (then Mt. Pleasant) from 1835-1847 or 1848. He was twice a candidate of the antislavery Liberty Party for state office. In later years his son Frank Woodbridge Cheney recounted Charles’
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Last August, my husband an I decided that we wanted to travel some of the route that the escaping “28” travels in 1853. It is 364 miles from Cincinnati to Windsor, Ontario. In Ann Arbor, we met Deborah Meadows from the African-American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenau County. Deborah graciously took us on a
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I happened to be in Sandwich, Ontario on a Sunday. I thought that maybe the Sandwich Baptist Church might be holding services and that I might be able to meet people who knew the history of the church. The church is where the “28” crossed into Canada and held a celebration. I am so
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