Preservation Workshop 2024:
Unraveling Fact or Fiction: Genesee County HOmes on the Underground Railroad
The Fugitive Slave Act made assisting and harboring escaped slaves a punishable crime...so the people fleeing from their bondage and running toward freedom were hidden by those who sympathized with their suffering, and were taking action. It was a dangerous time. The secrets were kept, with barely a trace. This makes it extremely challenging to research the network and sites that may have been involved in the Underground Railroad.
Held at the Robert T. Longway Planetarium, the full classroom of attendees gained a better understanding of how the Underground Railroad functioned and the role both Michigan and Genesee County played. Our county’s activism during this consequential era in American history and the local key players were covered by presenter Carol Bacak-Egbo.
Bacak-Egbo is a nationally and regionally known historian, archeologist and educator and part of the Oakland County Historical Commission. She has done extensive investigation on this topic in Oakland County and has now turned her eye on their next-door neighbor, Genesee County, its Anti-Slavery Society, well-known abolitionists, and the purported “stations” along the Railroad. She also shared the techniques and resources she uses for assessing claims of connection of a person or a structure’s function in the Railroad, as well as discovering the stories of abolitionists and freedom seekers. We learned how to interpret a variety of historical sources including maps, census records and deeds, and analyze and evaluate historical evidence. It was a great program for historians and genealogists alike.
We provided materials and arranged for American Sign Language interpreters.
Held at the Robert T. Longway Planetarium, the full classroom of attendees gained a better understanding of how the Underground Railroad functioned and the role both Michigan and Genesee County played. Our county’s activism during this consequential era in American history and the local key players were covered by presenter Carol Bacak-Egbo.
Bacak-Egbo is a nationally and regionally known historian, archeologist and educator and part of the Oakland County Historical Commission. She has done extensive investigation on this topic in Oakland County and has now turned her eye on their next-door neighbor, Genesee County, its Anti-Slavery Society, well-known abolitionists, and the purported “stations” along the Railroad. She also shared the techniques and resources she uses for assessing claims of connection of a person or a structure’s function in the Railroad, as well as discovering the stories of abolitionists and freedom seekers. We learned how to interpret a variety of historical sources including maps, census records and deeds, and analyze and evaluate historical evidence. It was a great program for historians and genealogists alike.
We provided materials and arranged for American Sign Language interpreters.
