Freedom Train
Presented by TheatreWorks USA
A Story That Speaks To All People
Up creek beds, through swamps, over hills and through dark and
dangerous wooded areas is how the slaves, led by “conductors,”
escaped to the North. The most famous “conductor” on the
Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman. After escaping from
slavery herself in 1849, she returned to the South again and again,
at great risk, to lead others to freedom. Thus, she earned the title
“Moses.” Freedom Train tells the story of a very courageous
woman who risked everything to lead more than 300 slaves to
freedom. This heroic story is a musical and portrays themes of
courage, dedication, equality, survival, and most important, love.
Do you think you could have done the same as Harriet Tubman?
Could you have made the same decisions to escape to the North
and risk your life to help others escape, too? Get ready to see a
powerful story on the Clowes Hall Stage and relive history as
you may have never experienced before!
Clowes Sheets
Study Guide for Teachers and Students
Know the Code
There are several words with which you need to become familiar to understand the play.
Here’s a list of some words you would have heard and used if you lived in the 1800s:
Abolitionist: a person who supported the
movement to abolish or end slavery
Bounty Hunter: a person who tracks down and
captures outlaws in return for a reward
Conductors: people who directly transported
runaways
Drinking Gourd: a code term for the North Star
Fugitive: a person who flees; a runaway
Fugitive Slave Laws: a number of laws that
regulated the return of slaves who had escaped
Go Free: a code word used by slaves for escape
Heaven: a code word used by slaves for Canada
Mason-Dixon Line: the boundary between
Maryland and Pennsylvania that was known as the
border between the slave states of the South and
the free states of the North
Operator: a person who helped runaway slaves by
hiding them in their homes and/or providing food
Quakers: members of a religion called the Society
of Friends
Safe Houses: a term used by the Underground
Railroad to describe houses belonging to people
involved in helping slaves escape
Underground Railroad: not a real railroad and not
underground - a term used to describe the network
of people who helped slaves escape to freedom
Clowes Sheets
Study Guide for Teachers and Students
All Aboard! About the Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of people and houses throughout sixteen northern U.S.
states and Canada. It was organized to help escaped slaves reach safety. From about 1820-1860, such
activities were against the law. Underground Railroad workers and fugitive slaves therefore had to
carry out in secret- often in darkness or disguise. As many as 100,000 fugitive slaves traveled the
Underground Railroad’s routes north to freedom.
By the early 1800’s, fugitive slaves had many sympathizers in the North, including free African
Americans, abolitionists, and church groups such as the Quakers, Congregationalists and Methodists.
These “agents” of the Underground Railroad ran “safe houses” to harbor the escaping slaves on their
way north. They served as “conductors” leading the fugitives to the next “station” or resting place.
They also raised money, collected food and clothing for the cause, and worked politically (starting
newspapers, giving speeches, working to get laws passed) to end slavery.
The courage and perseverance of the fugitive slaves,
combined with these efforts by the “agents” formed
the backbone of the Underground Railroad.
Clowes Sheets
Study Guide for Teachers and Students
Did You Know?
The North Star led the
way for slaves on clear
nights.
Most escapes were
planned for Saturdays
because it gave the slaves
more time before they were
discovered in the morning.
The Underground Railroad
was not organized until the
1830’s.
Over 3,000 people helped
on the Underground
Railroad.
One man freed 28 slaves by
organizing them in a funeral
procession.
By 1844, over 40,000 slaves had
escaped to Canada. Some
escaped slaves became
Seminoles, a Native American
tribe. The name means
runaways.
Clowes Sheets
Study Guide for Teachers and Students
Read this famous poem, then think about the questions below.
Leaves of Grass
By Walt Whitman
The runaway slave came to my house and stopt outside.
I heard his motions crackling the twigs of the woodpile,
Through the swung half-door of the kitchen I saw him limpsy and weak,
And went where he sat on a log and led him and assured him,
And brought water and fill’d a tub for his sweated body and bruis’d feet,
And gave him a room that enter’d from my own, and gave him some coarse clean clothes,
And remembered perfectly well his revolving eyes and awkwardness,
And remember putting plasters on the galls of his neck and ankles;
He stayed with me a week before he was recuperated and pass’s north,
I had him sit next to me at table, my fire-lock lean’d in corner.
What Would You Do?
After reading Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, think and discuss
the following:
• Imagine you lived in 1851, and a runaway slave came to your
door one night asking for food and shelter. Would you do the
same as the person in the poem?
• What would be the consequences of taking care of the
runaway slave?
• What dangers are involved for you and your family when helping a
runaway slave?
• What may happen if you were discovered helping a runaway slave?
• What would be the consequences of turning the runaway slave away?
• How do you think your community would support or not support
those who need assistance?
Clowes Sheets
Study Guide for Teachers and Students
Levi Coffin House Was an Indiana
Stop on the Underground Railroad
Life for a runaway slave was full of danger. Many times escaped slaves would hide in
homes of antislavery supporters. These stops were called Underground Railroad
stations because they resembled stops a train would make between destinations.
One such station was the Levi Coffin House.
Levi and Catherine Coffin were legendary in helping former slaves escape to
freedom in the North. Levi is often referred to as the President of the Underground
Railroad. Their house, a registered National Historic Landmark, is located in Fountain
City, Indiana.
During the 20 years they lived in Newport, the Coffins helped more than 2,000
slaves reach safety. The slaves used three main routes to cross into freedom:
Madison and Jeffersonville, Indiana, and Cincinnati, Ohio.
Escaping slaves could be hidden in this
small upstairs room and the beds be
moved in front of the door to hide it.
Clowes Sheets
Study Guide for Teachers and Students
Could You Be Related to an Underground Railroad Operator?
Here are the names of the “operators” and “conductors” and the Indiana
counties in which these people lived. Do any of these names sound familiar?
If the county in which you live is not listed below, can you find it on the map?
4
6
2
7
3
5
1
1- Bartholomew
4-Howard
7- Wayne
Unknown County
Hall, Johnson
Jones, Daniel
Charles, John
Brandt, Hon, Isaac
Newsom, Willis
5- Morgan
Clark, Daniel
Maxwell
Thomas, John
Williams
Coe, John
Smith, Dr. A.J.
Waers
6-Tippecanoe
Coffin, Levi
Talberts
2- Boone
Falley, Lewis
Johns, Samuel
Hockett, Moses
3- Hendricks
Hollingsworth, Benjamin
Harvey, Harlan
Hollingsworth, John
Harvey, Dr. T.B.
Robinson, John
Harvey, Dr. Wm. F
Edergton, Thomas
Hayworth, James
Hill, Daniel
Huff, Daniel
Wilcuts, David
Williams, John F.
Wooton, Martha
Hobbs, Elisha
Clowes Sheets
Study Guide for Teachers and Students
Understanding the Rules of Theatre:
Theatrical Conventions
Performers will play more than one role in the play called
“doubling.”
Actors will freeze in position in full view of the audience.
This indicates the audience should not focus on them until
they begin to move and speak again.
Split stage effect is a technique of using two sides of the stage
for scenes that occur simultaneously in different locations.
Actors will speak directly to the audience in order to provide
the audience with necessary or important information.
Voices from offstage will indicate a character we must
imagine.
Character changes will occur right before your very eyes
with quick prop and costume changes.
Clowes Sheets
Study Guide for Teachers and Students
Now You’ve Experienced Freedom Train…
Did you like the way the costumes were designed for the
characters? Did the costumes make sense with the time period?
Were the set (background) and props (things the characters hold
or use when acting) easy to believe or work well with the
performance?
Did the actors chosen for the character parts do a good job in
their roles? What character was your favorite?
Was the script written well by the playwright?
How were sound effects and lighting used to enhance the
performance?
Did you have to use your imagination to enjoy the performance?
What was your favorite scene? Why?
Did you enjoy the performance? Why or why not? How would you
rate the performance on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being one of the
best performances you’ve ever seen?
Ty Sutton
Executive Director
Donna Rund
Interim Education Manager
Written and edited by
Donna Rund
Allie Combs
Assistant Education Coordinator
Designed by
Butler University
Harriet Tubman
Thank you for coming to see a performance at
the Butler Arts Center, Clowes Memorial Hall.
We hope you’ll come back to see another
wonderful and engaging performance!
Visit our website at www.butlerartsceneter.org
for upcoming events!
Butler Arts Center, Clowes Memorial Hall
Education Department
4602 Sunset Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46208-3485
Clowes Sheets
Study Guide for Teachers and Students