Memphis. Atlanta. Birmingham. There are certain American cities that are known for their Black history. But the history and culture of African American history can, of course, be found all over the United States, in seemingly unlikely cities like Portland, Maine, say, or Providence, RI
Many of these places are included in the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom Program, which was created by the National Underground Railroad to Freedom Act of 1998 and whose mission is to preserve and promote sites with a verifiable connection to the Underground Railroad, a network of abolitionists who helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom. There are currently more than 700 Network to Freedom locations in 39 states, in addition to Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands. Many are in the Northeast, an area not always strongly associated with Black history.
Curiosity about these lesser-known destinations is how I found myself on the road to Auburn and Rochester, New York, the homes of two American heroes: Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.
Rochester by Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass, a former slave turned abolitionist, orator, and author, is a point of pride for many residents of Rochester, the city Douglas called home from 1847 to 1872. He lived there longer than anywhere else. in his life.
“Growing up in my home, my parents wanted me to understand that if people like Frederick Douglass could fight for freedom and for the ability to get an education, then I had no excuse,” said Malik D. Evans, the mayor of Rochester and lifelong resident.
Mr. Evans cited Rochester sites such as the now-defunct Corinthian Hall, where Douglass delivered his fiery “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech in 1852 and the Memorial AME Zion Church, where he edited The North Star, one of the most influential African-American anti-slavery newspapers before the Civil War, in the basement.
“The message was, ‘Look at this man with no formal education who was one of the best orators of the 19th century,'” Mr Evans said.
I kept some of Mr. Evans’ site suggestions in my back pocket as I embarked on a Douglass-centric tour with Akwaaba Tours, a local nonprofit that offers Underground Railroad-centric tours (starting at $20 per person).
I met Norm Strothers, the tour guide, and his wife, Shirley, in the mud-covered parking lot of Memorial AME Zion Church. I was the only tour participant on that sunny, cold January day. I jumped in their SUV and the couple gave me some information about the founders of Akwaaba Tours, David and Ruth Anderson, who also started the Blackstorytelling League of Rochester. The Strothers have worked with both organizations for more than 15 years.
We arrived at our first stop on South Avenue, where Douglas’ second home in Rochester was located, where he lived for 20 years before it was destroyed, probably by arson. The land now houses the Anna Murray-Douglass Academy No. 12, a public magnet school decorated with a purple and teal mural that includes a portrait of Douglass.
I walked through the deep snow to read a historical marker that described the former Douglas home as a welcoming place for all, including abolitionists and suffragettes like Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony. In an odd location two miles from downtown Rochester, the house was an ideal place to house some 400 exhausted freedom seekers on their harrowing journey to Canada.
Another vibrant mural celebrating Douglass awaited me on the walls of the Frederick Douglass Community Library behind the school. From there, we walked to Lily Pond, where the kids played ice hockey. Mr Strothers shook his hand and said much of the area once belonged to Douglas, who was known to ice skate on the same lake.
Within a five-minute walk is the 150-acre Highland Park, site of the Frederick Douglass Monument and Memorial Plaza and an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of the bearded Douglass, arms outstretched, sculpted in the late 19th century by Stanley. W. Edwards. It is believed to be the first public memorial to an African-American in the United States.
We then headed to the 196-acre Mount Hope Hill Cemetery near the University of Rochester, where more than 370,000 people are buried, including Douglass, Susan B. Anthony and Charles T. Lunsford, Rochester’s first African-American physician with permission. Dedicated in 1838, the burial ground was never segregated, a rarity at the time. The vast expanse of tombstones, obelisks and temples is daunting, but fortunately the non-profit Frederick Douglass Family Initiative has installed signs that lead visitors directly to the Douglass family plot, with the grave of Douglass and his wife, Anna Murray – Douglas. His daughter, Annie, who died aged 10. and his second wife, Helen Douglass.
Mr. Stroders shoveled snow from Douglas’ granite headstone. Shivering in the sharp wind, I was struck by the fact that the oversized tablet marking his grave was befitting of a man who left such a huge legacy.
Harriet Tubman’s Auburn
Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery to become a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, is commonly associated with the Eastern Shore of Maryland where she was enslaved and Philadelphia, where she first escaped in 1849 when she was about 27 years old. Auburn, on Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes of Central New York, was her home for more than 50 years, from 1859 until her death in 1913.
Auburn was settled in 1793 by John L. Hardenbergh, a Revolutionary War veteran, and his two servants, Harry and Kate Freeman, who are credited with creating the neighborhood of Auburn, New Guinea, a Black settlement that welcomed the newly free during the 19th century. century. By the mid-1800s, Auburn had become a hub for abolitionists.
From Philadelphia and New York, Tubman traveled to Maryland at least 13 times by 1860, taking fugitives to St. Catherine in Ontario, Canada (where Tubman herself lived for eight years), to ensure they could not be recaptured under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. He discovered Auburn on one of these trips in 1857.
The wild community of abolitionists—including New York senator and governor William H. Seward and his wife, Frances—who helped Tubman transport the railroad’s “passengers” and in 1859 sold her the seven acres of land and log house where she lived for more than 20 years — became her safe haven. In 1882, after a fire in the first house, Tubman’s second husband, Nelson Davis, built the two-story brick house where she lived with her extended family until her death in 1913.
If you’re not careful, you might miss the New York State Historic Marker on South Street in Auburn that identifies the Tubman home. Around 10 a.m. Saturday, I braked hard (a feat during a blizzard), turned left, and pulled into Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, which includes a visitor center. the Tubman Home for the Aged, where Tubman cared for older black residents; the renovated Tubman Barn; and the Harriet Tubman Residence.
When I arrived, the Rev. Paul Gordon Carter, the site director, was just beginning a tour. He pointed to a point in the timeline that runs along one wall of the visitor center — the moment when, as a 6-year-old enslaved child in Maryland, Tubman was savagely beaten by her mistress for eating a sugar cube. (She hid in a pig pen for five days in a failed attempt to avoid a beating.) She then brought up the timeline for Tubman’s return to Maryland from Philadelphia on Christmas Eve 1854 to rescue her three brothers before they were sold to another plantation. Together, they traveled more than 100 miles to freedom in Philadelphia.
After the historical recap, I spent a few minutes perusing the exhibits in the one-room space: images of Frederick Douglass’s newspaper, The North Star; maps of the underground railway routes to Canada. and photos of Tubman and her family and friends at her Auburn property, which was expanded to 32 acres in 1896.
As our small group walked through the snow to the renovated Tubman Home for the Aged, Reverend Carter said, “If we don’t tell our stories as they should, they will become ‘his stories’ and be repeated in every way.” wants,” referring to the way history was often retold to favor the oppressor’s point of view.
At the wooden Tubman Home for the Aged, which originally opened in 1896 and, until the 1930s, housed six to 14 people at a time, it was easy to imagine residents sitting in rocking chairs on the building’s large front porch, enjoying a sunny summer day. In 1953, the house was renovated and tours were given by the national AME Zion Church, allowing visitors to see, among other things, Tubman’s Bible, sewing machine and a bed given to her by her brother.
The National Park Service plans to restore Tubman’s brick home in partnership with the Harriet Tubman Home, the nonprofit organization founded by the national AME Zion Church that owns and manages the property.
As I was leaving the house, I noticed a QR code at the entrance that said, “You found a traffic light!” The codex is part of the Harriet Tubman Lantern Trail, a collection of 11 sites highlighting Tubman’s life in Auburn. Sites include the Seward House Museum, the home of William Henry and Frances Steward, who hid those who escaped slavery in their basement. the NYS Equal Rights Heritage Center, where visitors are greeted by a powerful statue of Tubman holding a lantern in the middle of one of her harrowing rescue missions. and Fort Hill Cemetery, where Tubman is buried under an evergreen tree.
When I arrived at the Gothic gatehouse of the sprawling Fort Hill Cemetery, it quickly became apparent that finding Tubman’s grave would not be easy. There are no signs to direct visitors to her grave. she is just one of the many souls buried there.
I drove a few yards and spotted an evergreen tree and dozens of footprints in the snow headed for Tubman’s grave. There was no epitaph on the simple granite headstone nestled between two small bushes, just her name: Harriet Tubman Davis. Beneath a dusting of snow were sunflowers, potted plants, toys and, surprisingly, a business card tucked under a rock.
I stood there for a moment in silence and offered a prayer of thanks to Tubman and all my unknown ancestors who never saw a day of freedom in their lives.
