What Price Freedom?
The People and Stories of the Underground RailroadFIRST STOP: The Character Encounter
Stop #1 of The Underground Railroad Experience begins as one of the important “conductors” on the Underground Railroad travels through time and space to relate real life stories of successful flights to liberty that are at once troubling and inspirational. Somehow, these people, places and methods of the Underground Railroad have nearly been lost in the pages of history. Understandably the topics of slavery, abolition, and the Civil War are not easy to talk about, let alone to try to explain. Yet to deny their existence obscures our past and limits our ability to appreciate and comprehend events of today.
This unexpected appearance of a free African-American of the 1850’s will engage you emotionally, lifting the words off a history book, and bringing them to life. Harrowing stories of those “almost caught” and their personal experiences highlight the obstacles and risks each took to conduct their “passengers” along their journey to freedom.
The Underground Railroad Experience is available by reservation only, and for groups only.
Please click the links below to continue your journey.
- Back to Introduction
- First Stop ~ Free Man Encounter
- Second Stop ~ On Your Bus in the Countryside
- Third Stop ~ Stops Along the Way in the Countryside
In our theater, you will encounter one of these local, lesser known, true-life African-American heroes:
Lydia Hamilton Smith
A prominent figure in the Abolitionist movement, she was best known as a businesswoman and long-time household manager for Thaddeus Stevens, the fiercest opponent in Congress against slavery and discrimination of African Americans.
William Goodridge
Born enslaved in Maryland, and freed at age 16 in Pennsylvania, he became a wealthy businessman and an important “conductor” and “station master” on the Underground Railroad.
Frances Harper
Born a freewoman in Maryland, she moved to Pennsylvania and helped freedom seekers find their way to Canada. She was also a noted poet and lecturer on the Abolitionist circuit.
Basil Biggs
Orphaned at the age of four, this self-made man was a farmer whose home was used to conceal freedom seekers as a stop on the Underground Railroad.