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NEWS
RELEASE U..
department of the interior
national
park service
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For
More Information,
contact: Park
Ranger Jamie Wolfe
PH:315-568-5234 e-mail: Jamie Wolfe
LECTURE TO FOCUS ON WATERLOO
UNDERGROUND RAILRAOD HISTORY
SENECA FALLS - In the days preceding and following the first women's rights
convention in Seneca Falls, neighboring Waterloo was a hotbed of anti-slavery
activity. Waterloo residents housed runaway slaves traveling on the Underground
Railroad, and sent several resolutions to NY state Legislature opposing
slavery.
The connections between Waterloo Quakers and the Underground Railroad
will be explained by Dr. Judith Wellman, Professor Emeritus, SUNY-Oswego
in a lecture at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at Fatsinger Hall in the Waterloo
Library, 31E. Williams St. Wellman, a nationally respected authority on
women's history, was the first historian at Women's Rights National Historical
Park. The lecture is part of the observance of Black History Month sponsored
by the park. Admission to the lecture is free.
Waterloo had strong connections to the Underground Railroad. Included
in the several sites of Women's Rights National Historical Park are the
Hunt House on Routes 5&20 and the M'Clintock House at 14 E. Williams
St., Waterloo. Both homes were stations on the Underground Railroad and
both the Hunts and the M'Clintocks were active in the first women's rights
convention.
In the mid 1800s, several black families lived in Waterloo and were a
familiar site on village streets. Black men held positions of responsibility
in the village. Two free blacks were recorded as being residents in the
M'Clintock House at the time of the 1850 census. The residents of Waterloo,
led by the Hicksite Quakers, and later, the Progressive friends, were
very active in abolitionist activities, sending several resolutions to
the state Legislature opposing slavery.
While they were providing safe passage for hundreds of escaped slaves,
the Underground Railroad helped these men and women learn valuable lessons
in working together and taking a stand for their beliefs. These lessons
would be applied to other social issues, and lead to the First Women's
Rights Convention in Seneca Falls.
The park is presenting a major exhibit on the Underground Railroad and
connections to the first Women's Rights Convention at the park's Visitors
Center, 136 Fall St., Seneca Falls. The exhibit includes six panels on
the Underground Railroad, African-American participants, women's interracial
anti-slavery societies and connections between the organizers of the Seneca
Falls Convention and the women's rights movement. The exhibit will continue
through Feb. 28.
The park's final program for Black History Month will be a performance
by acclaimed storyteller Alexandria James, who returns to the park on
Feb. 23 and 24 to give three performances of her living history tale,
"My 'Last Jump' Into Freedom." Dressed in period costume, she
recounts the story of a woman who escaped to freedom on the Underground
Railroad. The hour-long performances will be at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday
and at 1 p.m. Saturday in the visitor center. Groups should call in advance
for reservations at 315-568-0024.
Admission to the special programs and exhibits is included with the daily
$2 adult entrance fee.
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