underground railroad
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GirlTrek Takes Over The Root’s Instagram and Walks the Underground Railroad in #HarrietsGreatEscape
She was and continues to be our Moses. Harriet Tubman, the ultimate freedom fighter and warrior woman—before we even heard of a Dora Milaje—was liberating enslaved black folks through the Underground Railroad for years in a holy act of selflessness and courage. In honor of Tubman, GirlTrek, the largest national public health nonprofit and movement…
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Yes, There Was Slavery in New York, and a NYC College Has Compiled a Free, Searchable Database From That Terrible Time
For those African Americans who are desperately trying to trace their lineage, or for those history buffs who want to explore this country’s vast legacy of slavery, there is now the first-ever index of those enslaved in New York state dating to as early as 1525 and ending around the Civil War. The John Jay…
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NYC Neighborhood Wins Right to Preserve Underground Railroad Stop
A community preservation organization in the Chelsea section of Manhattan in New York City has done its part to make sure the city’s last Underground Railroad site remains standing and is restored to its original design. The obscure townhouse is on the block of West 29th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues and once belonged…
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Underground Is Fighting for Its TV Life With a Network That Wants to Become the New Fox News
Even if it can boast of being a critical darling that’s generated historic ratings for the network, Underground‘s fate at WGN America appears to be all but sealed. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the slave-centered drama, which wrapped its second season Wednesday, will have to find a new home amid a new strategy employed by…
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7 Times Harriet Tubman Was a Badass Superhero
Harriet Tubman is having a moment. Right now she is the “it” girl of history. No longer relegated to the pages of schoolbooks during Black History Month, the freedom-fighting, self-liberating she-warrior and “conductor” on the Underground Railroad is getting the recognition she so richly deserves. Last year the Treasury Department announced that Tubman would replace…
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Tracing Your Roots: Did My Wife Descend From Runaway Slaves?
A Canadian resident tries to confirm the origins of his wife’s ancestors, who reportedly traveled the Underground Railroad. Dear Professor Gates: My wife, Kathy Brooks, and I live in Canada, and she is trying desperately to trace the ancestry of her great-great-grandmother Mary Ann Shepherd, who arrived in Canada between 1845 and 1861. We believe…
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National Harriet Tubman Historical Park Is a Step Closer to Becoming Reality
A national historical park meant to honor Underground Railroad hero and iconic abolitionist Harriet Tubman in her hometown in upstate New York is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality, the Associated Press reports. According to the newswire, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that the Department of Interior has completed a land-transfer agreement that…