September Is International Underground Railroad Month!

International Underground Railroad Month acknowledges the significance of the interracial Underground Railroad for its contribution to the eradication of slavery in the United States and as a cornerstone for the civil rights movement that continues today in the Black Lives Matter movement. 

College Hill had an active community of abolitionists who were agents on the Underground Railroad. The well-documented “Escape of the 28” from Boone County, Kentucky in 1853 came through College Hill.  The twenty-eight freedom seekers found refuge here and were safely transported by Black and White abolitionists on their journey to freedom in Canada. They were greeted in Canada by teacher, nurse, and abolitionist Laura Haviland and Henry Bibb, the editor of the first Black newspaper in Canada, the Voice of the Fugitive.

Our exhibit honors the courageous stories of those who emancipated themselves from slavery, the stories of the Black and White abolitionists who aided them, and the people who documented, interpreted and shared these stories from the Underground Railroad.  We see that the journey continues today.

The College Hill Historical Society and HamiltonAvenueRoadToFreedom.org will have an exhibit in a storefront for the month of September at Hamilton and Cedar Avenues in College Hill. Check out the power point presentation about the exhibit here.

National Park service Network to Freedom is the sponsor of the international event.