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Michigan and Local Underground Railroad

Explore the history of the Underground Railroad in Michigan, where slaves escaped to find freedom in Canada. Learn about the main routes, influential abolitionists, and significant landmarks along the way.

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Michigan and Local Underground Railroad

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  1. Michigan and Local Underground Railroad University Sojourner Truth E-Mentoring Program November

  2. National Underground Railroad Routes • Slaves escaped out West, into Mexico, into the Caribbean Islands, and into Canada. • There were various routes into Canada and many of them went through Michigan.

  3. Michigan Underground Railroad Routes • As this map shows, there were seven MAIN routes through Michigan and into Canada. • Some of the routes followed old Indian trails and others followed supply roads that connected Michigan cities.

  4. Elizabeth Chandler • Chandler founded the Logan Female Antislavery Society which was one of the first anti-slavery societies in the Northwest Territory. • She was a poet and writer who died when she was only 27 years old but spoke out against slavery all of her adult life.

  5. Blissfield Presbyterian Church • Several members of the Blissfield Presbyterian Church were members of the Michigan Anti-Slavery Society founded in 1836. • They also established a Committee of Vigilance to help fugitive slaves as they passed through the area.

  6. Laura Haviland • Laura Haviland and her husband, Charles, were interested in education and founded the Raisin Institute in 1839 as well as a training school for both men and women regardless of race.

  7. Raisin Institute • The Raisin Institute was the first integrated, coeducational school in Michigan. • The school was one of the first of its kind in the nation.

  8. Woodstock • Another revolutionary school was started near Addison in the northwestern corner of Lenawee County. • Called the Woodstock Manual Labor Institute, the school was primarily for blacks but both African and Caucasian students attended.

  9. Adrian College • Adrian College was built on the belief that all persons regardless of their gender, race, or background would be accepted as students and educated. • Downs Hall is the only original building still standing on the college campus.

  10. Asa Mahan • Asa Mahan was president of Adrian College for more than 12 years. • Before he came to Adrian, he was president of Oberlin College in Ohio, which was known as an anti-slavery school.

  11. Friends Church • This Quaker meeting house in Adrian was built in 1834 and is Michigan’s oldest surviving Quaker meeting house.

  12. Erastus Hussey • Erastus Hussey was a Quaker who ran an Underground Railroad station in Battle Creek. • He was also a leader in the Michigan Anti-Slavery Society and the Republican Party.

  13. Under the Oaks • Following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act citizens from across the Midwest came together "under the oaks" in Jackson, Michigan to officially establish a new party which had been commonly conceived throughout the U.S.   • On JULY 6th, 1854 - The REPUBLICAN PARTY WAS BORN!

  14. Sojourner Truth • Sojourner Truth—born Isabella Hardenberg in Ulster County, New York—was born into slavery. • Finally escaping to freedom, she would eventually change her name and become a nationally known abolitionist.

  15. Liberty Press • Hussey also published the Michigan Liberty Press, the newspaper of the Michigan Anti-Slavery Society in 1848 and 1849.

  16. Perry Sanford • Perry Sanford was a fugitive slave from Kentucky. • He escaped on the Underground Railroad and came to Ramptown, a settlement in Cass County, Michigan.

  17. Samuel Brown’s House • Samuel Brown and his wife, Rhoda, ran an 80 acre farm here and used their house as a safe house on the Underground Railroad.

  18. Davis Family Home Interior • Kimberly Davis shows Georgianna Bartlow, a descendant of Samuel Brown, the opening in the floor which led to a secret hiding place for escaping slaves. • Fugitives could hide in a small crawl space under the floor if slave raiders came looking for them.

  19. Davis Family Home Diagram • This diagram shows how slaves hid in the Samuel Brown house. • There were several different hiding places in this house.

  20. Ann Arbor, Michigan • The founding meeting of the Michigan Antislavery Society was held in the First Presbyterian Church. • Delegates from six counties elected officers and adopted fourteen resolutions denouncing slavery.

  21. Ypsilanti, Michigan • The house was built in 1841 by Mark and Justin Norris, both conductors on the Underground Railroad.

  22. Detroit, Michigan • Just miles away from the freedom that the Canadian border offered to escaped slaves, the church soon became a stop on the Underground Railroad. • Douglass discussed abolition with Second Baptist leaders before addressing citizens at the church 1859.

  23. Detroit Monument • Many fugitive slaves fled to Canada where United States’ laws could not reach them. • Last year two monuments were dedicated to these fugitives — one in Detroit and one in Windsor, Canada, just across the river.

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