Last week we were visited by representatives of the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad, Network to Freedom program. This group is finding more background information relating to the Underground Railroad and slave escapes in general.
We have little, if anything, actually pertaining to the Underground Railroad; however they suspect that in what we do have, there may be contextual information. We will be searching our collections trying to find more information.
The Underground Railroad was a de facto, if informal, resistance network used by escaping slaves between the 1830s and the 1860s. More broadly, it refers to slave escapes, and the means used by slaves seeking their freedom. There is little information about Underground Railroad activities in Oklahoma (then Indian Territory), although the Five Civilized Tribes did keep slaves.
Interestingly, I.T. was also a destination for African-Americans after the war.
Further information about this project may be found at the Network to Freedom website.
