“Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Chicago and Northeastern Illinois,” a program exploring the movement of fugitive slaves known as “freedom seekers” and the network of support that developed as the Underground Railroad, will be presented Fri., Feb. 17, 7 to 9 p.m., Ridge Historical Society (RHS), 10621 S. Seeley Ave.
RHS will premier its new permanent exhibit on the Underground Railroad on the Ridge at this event. A reception follows the program.
Presenters Larry McClellan, PhD, and Tom Shepherd will discuss how in the decades before the Civil War, several thousand freedom seekers travelled through northeastern Illinois. Their stories, and the range of encounters with white and Black abolitionists who provided them with assistance, will be shared in this program.
Dr. McClellan has written extensively on the Underground Railroad in Illinois and northwest Indiana. He was the principal author of applications that added sites in Crete, Lockport and on the Little Calumet River to the National Park Service registry of significant Underground Railroad sites in America. He is the President of the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project.
Shepherd is the Secretary and Project Director for the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project. He is a well-known and respected preservation, environmental, and social activist in the south Chicagoland region, hailing from the Pullman community.
Admission is $10 per person for RHS members and $15 per person for non-members. Space is limited; reservations are recommended. Info: 773-881-1675 or ridgehistory@hotmail.com. RHS is not handicapped-accessible.
