Charles  L. Blockson, Curator

Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection 

Testimony at the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
 Act of 1997 Hearings 

BILL, H.R. 1635 

To establish within the United States National Park Service the
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program 

Longworth House Office Building, Room 1324, Washington, DC
July 22, 1997 – 10 am 

It is indeed an honor for me to participate in this historical event, in an effort to preserve the former sites of the Underground Railroad, a subject that I have been committed to since I was a child.  When I was ten years old, my grandfather told me that my great grandfather and other members of my family escaped slavery on the Freedom Train, that was commonly known as the Underground Railroad. Although my great grandfather returned to the United States after the Civil War, other relatives remained in various parts of Canada to include Nova Scotia. 

For more than thirty years, I have researched, collected and written about this important American epic. My greatest contribution was the cover story I wrote for National Geographic magazine in July 1984.  It proved to be a popular article, receiving hundreds of letters worldwide, stimulating interest in the preservation of these historical sites.  The article also gave me an opportunity to travel throughout the nation, covering 20 states, including the provinces of Canada.  

To my astonishment, I discovered with great sadness that many of the sites have been demolished due to urban removal, particularly the ones in the African American community. I also discovered that many of the sites today are under private ownership.  In June of 1988, I was invited to speak by the Quindaro Town Preservation Society in Kansas City, Kansas, to help save the Quindaro ruins from being destroyed to build a landfill at the Old Quindaro town site.  Quindaro was once an abolitionist settlement and a station for blacks fleeing slavery via the Underground Railroad. 

In 1990, my connection with the Underground Railroad Study began with former U.S. Representative Peter H. Kostmayer (D.,Pa.) who, after reading my book the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania and my article in National Geographic, asked me if it was possible for these former sites to be preserved, and if so, he would introduce a bill to the Secretary of Interior to designate a route as the Underground Railroad Historic Trail, install suitable signs and markers and provide maps, brochures and other informational devices to assist the public.  After the proposal was approved, I, along with several others were asked to testify before a similar Committee in Congress. Consequently, Rep. Kostmayer asked me to select a group of people that represented various parts of the nation to form an Advisory Committee.  His staff then contacted the Congressional U.S. Representative of their respective states, who in turn contacted the prospective member of the Advisory Committee. This was how the Advisory Committee was formed, and I was selected by them as Chair. Four months before the Advisory Committee was organized, a press conference was held, at which I participated with Rep. Kostmayer, at Philadelphia’s Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church.  Mother Bethel, the oldest A.M.E. Church in the country, was one of the most important stations that hid hundreds of slaves. This press conference generated a growing interest throughout the nation to preserve the former Underground Railroad sites. 

The Advisory Committee met in various parts of the United States visiting the Underground Railroad sites.  I organized several tours, some of which I led.  Last year, I took a group of school teachers from the Washington, DC area on a tour sponsored by National Geographic.  We traveled from Harriet Tubman’s birthplace in Bucktown, MD., to Underground Railroad sites in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and upstate New York, to include Harriet Tubman’s and Frederick Douglass’ grave-site and then into Canada.  I was also a consultant for two television documentaries about the Underground Railroad. 

Because of the ongoing international interest in the Underground Railroad and its idealized history, in which fact and memory intertwine to epitomize a period of rich heritage, it is imperative that Bill, H.R. 1635 is implemented and receive the proper funding to better preserve and exhibit our national heritage.  It is also imperative that an interpretive handbook is written by scholars and consultants to teach the history and preserve the memories of those brave souls who represented the morality of Antebellum America; remembering the heroic essence and hardships of great spirits such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Levi Coffin, John Brown, Lucreatia Mott, William Still, Native Americans such as, Chief Pontiac, and a host of others.  We realize that no one institution, book or in-depth study can tell the full story of this pivotal period in the history of America, however, we can achieve its fullest expression through the lives of such luminaries and the mechanisms they used for freedom in this important chapter in history.  Increasing the need for wider recognition, we must challenge the deployment of the national media in presenting the cultural value of our heritage constructively, to inform rather than entertain 

In closing, I would like to commend the work of the staff of the National Park Service for keeping this project alive; a special thanks to the Underground Railroad Study Advisory Committee for your efforts and hard work over the past five years that have turned a necessity into a possible reality. Without your help and the help of the hundreds of people throughout the nation, who supported this great project, we would not have been able to attain its goal. And, thanks to those of you who have come today, many from great distances, to support the project. 

In the words of the old slave spiritual, that was sung in connection with the Underground Railroad, “Please Don’t Let This Harvest Pass.”  Let this BILL become a reality so that our children of all races, creeds and colors can enter into the 21^st century in brotherhood and sisterhood.     

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