This scene, painted in 1840, illustrates one of the most significant landscapes in the history of the nation’s early efforts to achieve a more perfect union. It represents a region and a key location that by the 1830’s became one of the seedbeds of our nation’s early civil rights movement. Underground Railroad tours in this region explore this heritage that emerged along the border counties of Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Mason-Dixon Line.
Research continues to emerge about this movement, and physical remnants of this activity are now being reclaimed. These resources are being made more accessible to visitors and local residents alike. This is very critical in these days of change and uncertainty, because it is unlikely the important lessons of this history were ever taught in your school…
You can be a part of this re-discovery. Become a heritage explorer across an area of Southeastern Pennsylvania that has long been regarded as one of the most well-traveled pathways to freedom by way of “America’s first racially-integrated and religiously-inspired civil rights movement”* — the Underground Railroad.
Delve into these pages. Join us in understanding, revealing and sharing the often overlooked or forgotten people and places that frame this little-known and intriguing history.
Then, to arrange a custom tour for you, your family or group, contact Randolph Harris, a consulting historian based in the City of Lancaster, PA. Call (717) 808-2941 or e-mail rjharris441792@gmail.com to arrange a tour. Mr. Harris is a former journalist and currently a partner in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, the nation’s official listing of sites with an authentic connection to the Underground Railroad.
Mr. Harris has been responsible — individually or with teams of historians — for the inclusion of 20 of the approximately 50 sites, facilities and programs located in Pennsylvania that are included in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Image: View of Chickee Rocks—Susquehanna River by F. DeBourg Richards, 1840, Courtesy LancasterHistory.org. Acquired by the James Hale Steinman Foundation
* Analysis courtesy of author Fergus M. Bordewich in Bound for Canaan, the Epic Story of the Underground Railroad, America’s First Civil Rights Movement, 2005, by Amistad, an imprint of Harper Collins/Publishers.