My Evening As A Fugitive Slave On The Underground Railroad

My previous two posts have discussed the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and a temporary exhibit about Abraham Lincoln and his interaction with the U.S. Constitution during the Civil War. I visited the exhibit and Freedom Center in preparation for my experience as a "fugitive slave" on the "Underground Railroad."

On two weekends a year, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (located between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio) and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad present an experiential program in which visitors experience an evening as "fugitive slaves" who are trying to escape to "Hope" (the codeword for Cleveland) and the final trip to freedom in Canada.

Groups of about 25 people are "immersed" in the role of slaves, with as much historical accuracy as possible. A National Park Service ranger told us that we were now in the year 1854 and we were a band of slaves who had escaped from their master in Tennessee. She pointed out that along our way (a two hour 2-mile hike) we would run into "slave catchers," "abolitionists," and other assorted characters. We would have real weapons pointed at us, but double and triple-checked to assure they were unloaded. Harsh language might be said, but we were in no way to talk back to the people, even if emotions were overwhelming. (At no time was the dreaded "N word" spoken by the actors due to modern-day sensitivities, but we were often called "Negroes").

The trip took place after dark and we were escorted by candle-lanterns for historical accuracy. No flashlights were used, thank goodness. We were asked to turn off our modern conveniences like cell phones and pagers.

We were greeted at first by a farmer's wife (all re-enactors, of course) who warned us of the dangers ahead, that she heard there were slave-catchers along the way. Although the re-enactors and park ranger never told us about the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, we were constantly reminded in our role as "slaves" that we could be captured at any time along our journey to freedom and returned to our owners. The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the Compromise of 1850 and was an attempt to appease Southerners who demanded their "property" to be returned to them. Not more than 10 minutes into our journey, a group of slave-catchers descended upon us out of nowhere, and made us kneel on the ground. We were yelled at, told to keep our heads down and mouths shut, and no one would get hurt. The re-enactors were brandishing guns as we had been warned. After another 5 or 10 minutes, men jumped the slave-catchers and "freed" us.

The different re-enactors we encountered played historical roles of the times. For example, an African-American woman ran up to us and told us to hide because strangers were coming. She was a "freed" woman and had her papers with her to prove it. As we were "hiding" the men accosted her and tore up her papers while she screamed, thus meaning she was once again a slave. In real life in those times, this happened many times. Former slaves or even African-Americans who had never been held as slaves had to carry papers with them proving they were free. If slave-catchers or unscrupulous northerners would ignore or destroy their papers, the people could be returned to slavery.

We also met "Quakers" who sang "Follow The Drinking Gourd" which meant to follow the Big Dipper, pointing to the North Star. We also met "friends" who led us in a rendition of "Amazing Grace" which we were to use as part of our "disguise" as a travelling "minstrel group."

We encountered an "Irish" couple who were furious at us and other African-Americans, free or not, because they were afraid we'd take their jobs. In the 1850's, the newly arrived Irish were indeed the lowest people on the job ladder because Americans in those days detested Catholics. And it is in fact true that Irish were often "lower" than slaves and free blacks when it came to finding work. The "Irish" couple demanded we turn around and go back south. Of course, we didn't.

Along the way, we also had to hide a couple of more times as strangers were coming along. Other people we met were well-intentioned white people who belonged to "colonization societies," the purpose of which was to "deport" the slaves back to Africa, mainly Liberia, or Haiti. In fact, Abraham Lincoln for a while supported this idea as a possible answer to the slavery problem. While many abolitionists detested slavery, they didn't exactly want African-Americans living next door. Indeed, the American Colonization Society was mentioned to us "slaves" during the evening as the best solution. The ACS was a real organization which did in fact send freed slaves back to Africa, principally to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

We walked along the real Ohio-Erie Canal on part of our experience. The canal towpath was used by the real fugitive slaves as it crossed Ohio diagonally from Cincinnati to Cleveland. The towpath and canal still exist in many parts of Ohio, including in the National Park. To imagine that we were walking in the footsteps of the real slaves was a powerful emotion.

Finally, we were led into a barn (property of the National Park Service) where we were told we were safe and food would soon be brought to us. After a soft musical interlude on a folk guitar, there was a loud gunshot. Just then, another group of slave-catchers stormed in the barn and made us kneel once more. The leader of the group was the local "constable." This was also historically accurate. One would think that the local law would be sympathetic to the plight of escaping slaves. Not necessarily. The Fugitive Slave Act required local sheriffs and constables to capture fugitive slaves and return them to their owners. If the local law official didn't obey this law, that person could actually be arrested and fined the fair market value of each slave he didn't return. Of course, many sheriffs ignored the law, but others didn't. The "constable" in our performance got into a heart-wrenching argument with his "wife" but in the end, we were turned over to the slave-catchers.

That's how we as a group ended up: we remained "captured" and were "forced" to board the train car, which was supposedly going to return us south. As we boarded the car and found our seats, no one in our group of "slaves" talked. Not even a whisper. I think it was a combination of the thought-provoking program we'd just experienced (it took two hours as I wrote previously), and the constant yelling at us by the re-enactors which made everyone so quiet.

We of course didn't experience the true experiences of a fugitive slave. We weren't exposed to the elements (winter months actually saw the most attempts at escape) for more than two hours; we weren't in danger of being shot or hanged; we weren't starving; we didn't have bloodhounds tracking us; and we didn't have to decide if a person was a friend or an enemy.

After we left the train car, we met up with another Park Service ranger who related some current day horror stories of modern slaves in countries like Pakistan, where a person might sell his child for the equivalence of $12.00 because he has a debt he can't pay. The ranger asked us what we might have done in the 1850's if we were slaves. Would we leave our family behind so we could escape? It was easier for one to escape than for a family to escape. If we were not slaves, would we have helped them? And she asked us if we'd be willing today to research clothing companies before we buy a shirt, since some clothing manufacturers use slave labor.

I thought this program was truly outstanding. If you ever get a chance to come to northeastern Ohio in November or anywhere else in the country which offers an Underground Railroad experience, take the opportunity. I visited the National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center to learn something about this subject before I experienced my evening as a fugitive slave. I'm happy I did, because I feel as though I got even more out of my experience. I hope no one is offended by the image of the poster I've included. Unfortunately, it's part of history.

Our country has come a long way in the past 150 years. While slavery no longer exisits in our land, there are still 25 million people worldwide who are in bondage. The struggle must continue until all people, everywhere on Earth, are free.

A Visit To The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

In my previous post, I shared with my readers my review of an exhibit about Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Constitution. This temporary exhibit examines how Lincoln took extraordinary powers during the U.S. Civil War and exceeded some Constitutional protections along the way.

The exhibit is housed for now within the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. After I visited the Lincoln exhibit, I stayed a couple of hours longer in order to visit the Freedom Center. I'm gratified I did. I experienced powerful emotions during my visit, from overwhelming sadness to inspiration and many others in between.

Cincinnati was selected as the home of the Freedom Center primarily because of its importance to the slaves who valiantly struggled to escape to freedom. Ohio was always a "free" state, divided from the "slave" states of Kentucky and Virginia (now West Virginia) only by the Ohio River. For many of the escaped slaves making their way north, Cincinnati was their first "stop" on the Underground Railroad. Many abolitionists lived in Cincinnati and their story is told at the Freedom Center, too.

Of course, the Underground Railroad was not actually a railroad and the routes were not underground. Rather, it was a "network" with multiple lines running from the south through cities like Cincinnati and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "Conductors" ran safe houses, served as guides, and otherwise assisted the escaped slaves on their way to freedom. Historians estimate that more than 100,000 slaves sought their own freedom through escape and a "trip" along the "railroad." Even if they escaped to Cincinnati and cities further north, there was always the extreme danger of being captured and returned to bondage. This is why many slaves continued their journey until they reached Canada or even heading south to Mexico, those two countries having abolished slavery long before the United States.

The Freedom Center doesn't teach the visitor only about the Underground Railroad. It presents the entire history of slavery in North America, dating from even prior to 1492 when Columbus made his first landfall in the Americas. I was impressed that the Center is not politically correct. It frankly relates the story how Africans were sold to European slavers by other Africans, who had captured their rival tribesmen. This fact is not often mentioned in history, but Africans did practice slavery. A nice re-creation of the bowels of a slave ship shows just how horrible the journey was for these poor souls. In the very early days of European arrival, slavery did exist in the northern states, including in New Amsterdam (New York City). Of course, slavery eventually did die out in the northern states, but remained present in the south until after the Civil War.

Original artifacts are shown throughout the museum, including ankle irons, chains, whips, slave ID tags, and other instruments of brutality. The Center is not for the faint of heart. Items created by slaves, such as baskets, rare articles of clothing (most slave clothing is long gone), pottery, and wooden items are on display, too.

The story of the abolitionists who fought long and hard to end slavery is told as well. Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth are represented through personal items, books, and wonderful displays. White abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe (who I am proud to call an ancestor) are represented as well.

A wing of the Freedom Center is dedicated to the history of the Underground Railroad. An excellent interactive exhibit is presented by an African-American man portraying a slave who wants to escape to freedom. He tells you you're coming along with him but asks you to answer various questions, such as when is the best time of year to try to escape (surprisingly enough, winter), if you should take your family or not (the fewer the people, the better the chance to escape), what paths to take (along rivers and streams) and so on.

Of course, Abraham Lincoln is represented. This is in addition to the temporary exhibit at the center. Lincoln's growth from being willing to leave slavery as is to wanting to eradicate it once and for all is told frankly and movingly.

The most incredible display in the Freedom Center is what I've included as the photo for this posting. It might look like a log cabin, not all that different from the so-called "Birth Cabin" of Abraham Lincoln. In actuality, it is an original slave pen from Kentucky. How the Freedom Center acquired it is quite a story. Just a few years ago, a landowner (a farmer) from Kentucky contacted the Freedom Center and told them he believed that a portion of his tobacco barn used to be a slave-holding pen. He wanted to donate it to the Center. Much research was done into land records in both Kentucky and Ohio, interviews held with long-time area residents, and finally the experts reached the conclusion: indeed, this was truly a slave-holding pen. The barn had been built around this structure, estimated to date to the 1830's. Expert conservationists went to the site, carefully removed the outer barn and delicately disassembled the pen. Some restoration work was required, but the structure you see in this photo is essentially original. Visitors are permitted to walk into the pen and imagine the horrors that those wretched souls must have experienced.

Unfortunately, slavery exists in our world even today. A section of the Freedom Center deals with this subject as well. It is estimated that 25 million people currently are held in bondage in our supposedly "civilized" world.

The Freedom Center has an excellent gift shop with a wide range of books and other items about U.S. slavery, the Underground Railroad, and current day struggles for freedom throughout the world.

I've read that the Freedom Center has struggled financially since its opening. That is a shame, because we as a people need to learn about this stain on our nation's history.

I was engrossed by my visit. If you ever find yourself in Cincinnati, it's worth a few hours of your time . Hopefully, you'll have a better appreciation for the struggles of the slaves and the efforts of those who fought to free them. I know I do.