The Underground Railroad will be the subject of a presentation Monday at the Allentown Public Library.
By: Mark Moffa
ALLENTOWN The Underground Railroad will be the subject of a presentation Monday at the Allentown Public Library.
Giles Wright, director of the Afro-American History program for the New Jersey Historical Commission, will deliver a slide show and talk at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the library, located on South Main Street.
Mr. Wright, who has been with the commission since 1979, said he has been researching the Underground Railroad under the auspices of a state grant to study New Jersey’s role in the secretive network that allowed runaway slaves to escape the South and find freedom in the Northern states or Canada.
"It’s an important part of the state’s history," he said.
Mr. Wright said he plans to discuss the role of the network nationally, but will focus on the state’s role, specifically the part played by local towns.
Many safe-houses were located in this region, he said. Documentation suggests that residents in the municipalities of Allentown, Cranbury, Hamilton, Princeton, Trenton, Bordentown and Lambertville were involved.
Mr. Wright said someone alerted him earlier this week to a 1908 letter that appeared in the Allentown Messenger. The letter, he said, makes references to the Enoch Middleton House in the East Crosswicks section of Hamilton being used as part of the Underground Railroad.
"That’s one of the best documented sites in the state," he said. Enoch Middleton, a Quaker, built his home in the 1840s, Mr. Wright said. The Underground Railroad is known to have existed from the 1830s to about 1861.
Although the Quakers have long been recognized for their role in the network, Mr. Wright said the contributions of African-Americans to the cause often are overlooked.
"There’s a common public perception of runaway slaves only being assisted by the white community," he said. "That’s something that needs to be corrected."
Many blacks, some former slaves, helped the runaway slaves find freedom. Perhaps the most well-known is Harriet Tubman, a slave who ran away in 1849 and spent more than 10 years leading slaves from the eastern shore of Maryland to freedom.
Mr. Wright said Tubman helped to free more than 300 slaves through at least 19 voyages in and out of her native state of Maryland.
New Jersey was one of the key states in Tubman’s trail, which Mr. Wright called the Eastern Corridor. Another arm of the Underground Railroad operated closer to the Mississippi River, he said.
"Those of us who reside in the state should be proud of the fact that our state was involved in the Underground Railroad," he said. "Not every state can claim that."