Sample Labels – ESCAPE!
Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad
NOT a subway system
The Underground Railroad was a network of people who helped runaway slaves find shelter,
food, rest and whatever else they needed to move a little closer to freedom. Sometimes this
network was organized; often it was spontaneous and relied on quick thinking and gutsy actions.
WHO: Most of the time, when slaves escaped, they did so on their own, or with the help of free
blacks or other slaves. Sometimes whites and Native Americans helped, too. Osceola, a leader of
the Seminole nation, refused to surrender runaway slaves who found refuge among the
Seminoles.
WHERE: The Underground Railroad was more organized in some places than in others. For
example, Thomas Garrett in Delaware worked closely with William Still in Philadelphia to send
runaways to free states or further north to Canada. In Ripley, OH, John Rankin and his family
worked with other local residents including the Collins brothers and John Parker. Together, they
helped runaways move to Ohio towns such as Red Oak and Sardinia where others sheltered them
and sent them further along.
Which direction?
Runaways didn’t only head north. Some also went south into Mexico and the lands held by the
Seminoles. Others headed for new lands in the West. Many fled to be with their families,
wherever they were. And some tried to blend into the background, living in cities with large
numbers of free blacks.
WHEN: Blacks tried to escape from slavery from the very first slave ships that came to the
Americas. The Underground Railroad period is generally thought of as from the 1830s to the
start of the Civil War in 1861.
After 1850, true freedom was outside the U.S. borders
The Fugitive Slave Law raised the stakes for free blacks and whites who helped runaways in any
way. By not turning in a runaway, a U.S. citizen could be jailed and fined heavily. Slave catchers
roamed the North. Some free blacks were kidnapped and sold as slaves. It wasn’t safe for black
people anywhere in the United States.
Carol Lloyd
Label on Cellar Door
Carol Lloyd
Abolitionists Flipbook (sample)
Martin Delany 1812-1885
“I rise … to assure your royal highness and his lordship that I am a man.” – Delany speaking before the
International Statistical Society in London
Multi-talented militant
Delany was a doctor, explorer, army officer, abolitionist, and writer. With parents who were
descendants of African royalty, he became convinced of the need for blacks to find a national home in
Africa.
He protested slavery, edited one of the earliest black newspapers, and took part in conventions to fight
for equal rights for blacks. Growing frustrated with the lack of progress, he advocated a homeland in
Africa, Canada or Latin America.
During the Civil War, President Lincoln appointed Delany as an infantry major in charge of recruiting
black soldiers. When the war ended, he worked in the Freedmen’s Bureau in South Carolina and was
almost elected to lieutenant governor of the state. He was appointed judge in Charleston, SC where he
won wide respect. In 1879 he once again practiced medicine, as he did on and off throughout his life
after first starting at age 40.
Sarah Mapps Douglass 1806-1882
Distinguished educator
Born into a prominent Philadelphia family, Sarah attended high caliber schools, including the one
started by her mother and James Forten, the prominent black shipbuilder.
In the 1820s, Sarah started her own school for blacks. It was eventually sponsored by the Philadelphia
Female Anti-Slavery Society, begun by her mother. Through this group Sarah made friends with other
prominent abolitionists, including whites Lucretia Mott and Angelina and Sarah Grimké.
Sarah and her mother Grace Bustill Douglass shocked Philadelphia society by socializing with whites. They
were guests at the wedding of Angelina Grimké and Theodore Weld. Two days later a mob burned down
Pennsylvania Hall, the state anti-slavery society’s recently built headquarters building.
Sarah regularly attended Quaker Meeting, despite discrimination in seating during the services. She
dedicated herself to teaching and retired after a long career at the Institute of Colored Youth, now
Cheney State College.
Carol Lloyd
Reader Rail (sample)
Some people went further than talking and writing against slavery. They decided to take action and help
those people running from their bondage. “Conductors” such as Harriet Tubman took freedom seekers to
“safe houses” – places where they could rest and find food and fresh clothes. Often the runaways needed
medical help, too. “Agents” were people who made the arrangements but didn’t actually take freedom
seekers to safe houses. “Stationmasters” were the owners of the safe houses where runaways found
shelter. [captions: Coffin house; William Still [image] and Thomas Garrett often worked together to help
runaways escape. [
People who helped runaways were committing an illegal act. They could be arrested, fined, and jailed for
their help. Sometimes people lost their farms, their homes, their businesses. A few, such as Charles
Torrey, a conductor in the Washington, DC area, even lost their lives. Torrey died in 1845 in the Maryland
State Penitentiary while serving a six-year sentence for helping runaway slaves. [image: Torrey]
After the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, people organized Vigilance Committees to protect runaway slaves
from being recaptured. Albany’s Vigilance Committee [image] was led by Conductor Rev. Jermain W.
Loguen, himself a runaway. Active in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Pittsburgh, these committees
kept watch for slave catchers while offering runaways food, shelter, clothing, medical help and legal help.
Often they forwarded runaways to sympathetic helpers in other cities, too.
The penalty for aiding runaways was steepest for free blacks. They could be sold into slavery themselves.
Carol Lloyd