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 Safe Passage: The Underground Railroad in Southwestern Ohio is a multimedia curriculum based on Ohio's academic standards in language arts and social studies for students in grades six through nine. Students and teachers explore the theme of the Underground Railroad through powerful fiction and nonfiction reading, thought-provoking writing assignments and the moving stories of the people and places of the Underground Railroad.
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a partner in Safe Passage, offers lessons and reflections on the struggle for freedom. The site offers FreedomQuests - WebQuests units developed by the Freedom Center that uses online resources.
Northern Kentucky University Institute for Freedom Studies promotes research, teaching and outreach on the study of the Underground Railroad in the Middle Ohio River Valley. The IFS website features a section titled "Teaching the Underground Railroad" in which primary, middle school and secondary school teachers can find lesson plans, local photographs and literature, but no correlation of lesson plan objectives to state academic content standards.
African American Odyssey is presented by the Library of Congress. This online exhibit tells the story of the African American experience through nine chronological periods, from slavery and the Civil War through the Depression, New Deal and Civil Rights. "Slavery - The Peculiar Institution" is the first exhibit; it explores the Atlantic Slave Trade.
The African American Mosaic is "a Library of Congress Resource Guide (publication) for the Study of Black History and Culture." This site provides only four areas of the publication - Colonization, Abolition, Migrations, and the WPA - but visitors to this site will find a wealth of information, photographs and primary resources for study in those areas.
Ohio History Teachers presented by the
Ohio Historical Society and features information on OHS field trips, educational outreach, distance learning and teacher resources.
African American Experience in Ohio: 1850-1920 is primary material from the Ohio Historical Society, presented by the Library of Congress. The site collection illustrates several major themes: slavery, abolition, and the underground railroad; African Americans in politics and government; and African-American religion. The resources online span from personal papers of prominent individuals, speeches, pamphlets and reports to over 15,000 Ohio newspaper articles about African Americans and issues affecting them. The site can be searched by keyword, by browsing the subject index or by category of source materials.
Black History Pages provides a comprehensive array of links to resources online on a variety of topics. The section on slavery has 100 links on the general topic of slavery, along with subheadings on abolitionists, the Amistad, colonization, Dred Scott, slave rebellions, slave narratives and the Underground Railroad.
Buxton Historic Site and Museum (Ontario) "celebrates the Underground Railroad and Early Black Settlement in Canada" with the history of the Buxton Settlement.
Eyes of Glory is the history of a multi-ethnic family, part Jewish and part Christian family of color. This award-winning site provides a detailed narrative, historical perspectives and photographs of primary sources.
Freedom in the Air: Indiana County's Underground Railroad presents a collection of resources on anti-slavery activities and African-Americans in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Sources for this effort include newspaper articles, memoirs, court, legal and archival records, church histories, census returns, map studies and published memoirs, as well as a variety of secondary sources and oral tradition.
Friends of Freedom Society site is under construction at this time, but you would do well to bookmark it for later use. The Friends of Freedom Society is a grassroots organization set up for the sole purpose of researching, identifying, documenting and preserving Underground Railroad sites throughout Ohio. The FOFS current site can be found here.
Fugitive Slave Act and the Underground Railroad is part of a website that studies the historical presence of Blacks in Buffalo, Rochester, Jamestown, Syracuse, Geneva, Ithaca, Corning, Niagara Falls, Canandaigua, Fredonia, and, in general, western New York State from 1700 to 2000.
Greenway Elementary School has designed an interactive "quilt" that addresses different subjects dealing with the Underground Railroad, from routes north, ways of escape and code words to treatment of slaves, Harriet Tubman and the Fugitive Slave Act. The site also includes a link to Teacher Resources, a quiz on the Underground Railroad based on the information on the website, and an UGRR word search page.
Images of the Transatlantic Slave Trade: A Media Database features hundreds of quality images, with primary and secondary source description, for use by educators in teaching about slavery.
Just Over the Line: Where Would You Draw the Line? is an online activity that offers students the opportunity to evaluate some of the major players in the Underground Railroad movement as to whether these individuals should choose peaceful or violent behavior to achieve their goals.
Kentucky's Underground Railroad: Passage to Freedom is a multimedia project of Kentucky Educational Television in which fugitives, anti-slavery advocates and descendants tell their stories about the history of slavery in Kentucky. The site also features lessons and activities tied to Kentucky's Learning Goals and Academic Expectations in arts and humanities and social studies.
Arnold Gragston Slave Narrative is part of the American Memory project of the Library of Congress. At the time of the interview Mr. Gragston was a 97-year old ex-slave whose early life was spent helping slaves to freedom across the Ohio River, yet he remained a slave during those activities. (Note: This website requires QuickTime.)
Rankin House is a page on the Ohio Historical Society website that provides a brief description of the Rankin House, how to get there, and the hours it is open for tour.
Letters on American Slavery by John Rankin is the text of Rev. Rankin's book, one of the twenty-five most important antislavery publications. Rankin's home in Ripley, Ohio, was a haven for slaves crossing the Ohio River enroute to freedom.
Autobiography of John Parker is a website maintained by the Special Collections Library at Duke University. It includes a brief biography of Parker, information about the original manuscript, a few excerpts from the book in Parker's handwriting.
The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences profiles John P. Parker, ex-slave, conductor on the Underground Railroad, and inventor. Parker was one of few blacks to obtain patents in the United States before 1900. His patents were associated with the iron industry and were issued in 1884 and 1885.
Archaeological Studies at the Parker House and Foundry Site in Ripley, Ohio details work designed to uncover important artifacts related to John P. Parker, his life and his work. The Foundry had been destroyed by fire in 1889; fortunately for archaeologists, the site had not been disturbed or built in the years since.
Levi Coffin House describes the historic significance of the house, which is registered National Historic Landmark and is operated by the Levi Coffin House Association. Coffin and his work is described in more detail at another Levi Coffin House site. Here there are pictures of Coffin, his wife, and a room of the house, along with recommended links on the Underground Railroad.
Reminiscences of Levi Coffin ran over 700 pages in book form, but are included in their entirety on this website. Coffin is referred to as the "President of the Underground Railroad" and dutifully kept account of his life and work in helping slaves to their freedom.
Harriet Beecher Stowe House has a brief description of the house, along with the hours it is open, and directions on how to get there.
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Stowe's works and her home in Hartford, Connecticut. The site features an extensive biography and teacher and student resources.
Harriet Beecher Stowe Slavery to Freedom Center features pictures of displays in the museum.
Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site commemorates the life of Reverend Josiah Henson and his contributions to the infamous Underground Railroad. It was Henson's life experiences that inspired Ms. Stowe's creation of the character Uncle Tom in her 1852 outcry against slavery.
Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture: A Multimedia Archive presents the book in a historic context. The site features the entire transcript, scans of Stowe's manuscript for comparison, text describing the culture in America at the time of Stowe's work, listen to songs and poems, read reviews, criticism, and more.
The Life of Josiah Henson is the memoir of the slave whose life inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom's Cabin. This book was dictated by Henson in 1849 and is on this website in its entirety.
Biography of Josiah Henson
Margaret Garner Archaeological Project is described here. The documentation of the property is not yet complete as funds are being sought. Links on the page lead to a description of the project.
Margaret Garner provides details on Garner's plight, which is best known as the basis for Toni Morrison's novel Beloved.
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. The site also features over 500 photographs of former slaves; these photos require special software to view.
Online Slave Narratives can be found at the following locations:
Autobiography of James Watkins, a former slave in Maryland. The document is presented in its entirety on this site, from Watkins' birth on the plantation, his life and the treatment of slaves, through several escapes, to his eventual arrival in England.
Menare Foundation's North Star Website includes information on the foundation (an organization dedicated to the documentation, preservation, and restoration of Underground Railroad safe-houses and environments), articles by and about founder/historian Anthony Cohen, who retraced a route used by runaway slaves. The site also features Wilbur Siebert's "Directory of Underground Railroad Operators Organized by State and County."
National Geographic Interactive Game takes you through the harrowing journey of a slave, offering descriptions of what happened at various locations along the way, and giving opportunities for you to decide whether to risk continuing and what the consequences of your actions are at each step.
Rokeby Museum is one of the best-documented Underground Railroad sites in the country. This site a family of Quakers, their lives in the community, and their work as abolitionists.
UC Davis Underground Railroad Site offers small excerpts of primary material, personal narratives of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and others, music, literature and a bibliography.
Underground Railroad provides an overview of several facets of slavery, from the Fugitive Slave Act to methods of escapes, Dred Scott, and John Brown.
Network to Freedom is a project of the National Park Service to "coordinate preservation and education efforts nationwide and integrate local historical places, museums, and interpretive programs associated with the Underground Railroad into a mosaic of community, regional, and national stories." NPS features a detailed chronology of the UGRR at the Boston African-American National Historic Site page.
Underground Railroad in Rochester, New York has information about the Underground Railroad, in particular the part played by abolitionists in Rochester.
Underground Railroad in Southern Ohio covers southern Ohio counties, detailing who served as conductors in helping slaves on their journey north.
African Americans in Southeastern Ohio has an abundance of links to related sites on black history, slave narratives, and museums and sites that are part of the Underground Railroad.
Underground Railroad in York County, Pennsylvania was critical for slaves because the county bordered the Mason-Dixon line. On this page, you'll find background information, along with photographs of houses/stations and details of their involvement in helping those fleeing the tyranny of slavery in the south.
Valley of the Shadow details life in two American communities, one northern and one southern, during the era of the Civil War, through original letters, speeches, diaries, newspapers and other records.
Taking The Train To Freedom details the National Park Service study of the Underground Railroad and how you can order a copy of the study.
Aboard the Underground Railroad - A National Register Travel Itinerary introduces fascinating people and places associated with the Underground Railroad. The itinerary currently provides descriptions and photographs on 60 historic places that are listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places.
History Matters (high school teachers) serves as a gateway to Web resources and offers materials for teaching U.S. history. The site also has a guide for analyzing primary sources and articles and resources that link the past with current ideas and events.
Best of Black History on the Internet provides nearly one hundred links to sites featuring information on slavery and the Underground Railroad.
PBS TeacherSource opens the wealth of resources available to teachers via public television and PBS.
William Still Underground Railroad Foundation, Inc. provides a biography of Still, known as the Father of the Underground Railroad, and a list of online resources for further research
The Underground Railroad in Canada features an introduction to the land many fleeing slaves saw as their salvation and eventual home. This site describes black settlement in Canada and how it impacted those who lived there.
The Underground Railroad Years: An Interactive Game of the Underground Railroad in Canada indicates that the story unfolds as you play the game, and that your choices will determine whether or not your escape is successful.
Ontario's Underground Railroad website traces the journey blacks took as they fled to sanctuary in the North. The site includes a detailed and extensive timeline and biographies of conductors and notable figures.
Underground Railroad in Upper Canada and Black Settlements offers the history of Blacks and Black communities.
Flight to Freedom offers you an opportunity to assume the identity of a slave for your "flight to freedom." Each event that happens on the road is described and you are offered several options. New events are generated based on your choice. There are ten "levels of difficulty" for those choosing to take part in this simulation. However, even the choice of "easy" shows that there were no easy routes to freedom.
Pathways to Freedom: Maryland and the Underground Railroad opens with: "A life in slavery, or the dangerous road to freedom. You decide." This interactive site provides a number of ways students can learn about slavery and the Underground Railroad, along with teacher tips and lesson plans and activities.
The Underground Railroad - Colgate University offers information on how to find data and primary and secondary resources on the Underground Railroad, along with links to selected websites.
Waters of Despair, Waters of Hope describes Chesapeake Bay, waterways which fed the plantation system that drove the slave trade and, at the same time, marine avenues that offered slaves pathways to freedom.
Captive Passage: The Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Making of the Americas documents the history of slavery from Africa through America's period of slavery to the lasting legacies of this event. Teachers will appreciate the extensive reading list, both for students and adults, as well as the excellent (though limited) list of website resources.
Safe Harbor is a program with teacher resources from WQLN, public broadcasting for Northwest Pennsylvania. Much like Safe Passage, Safe Harbor explores the Underground Railroad in the context of a specific region. Materials include a DVD, lesson plans and web resources to help teachers find new ways to explore language arts, music, history, earth science and social studies through the theme.
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