Date: February 20, 2007
Contact: Bonnie Blaford, (319) 643-7866
Iowans will have opportunities this March to learn more about the national network of resistance to slavery known as the Underground Railroad. Some Underground Railroad routes passed through Iowa, including at numerous sites in Cedar County.
On Friday, March 2, 2007 the Cedar County Historical Museum will host presentations by historian John Zeller and archaeologist Doug Jones from the State Historic Preservation Office from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The Cedar County Historical Museum is on State Highway 38, just north of Tipton.
On Saturday, March 3, 2007 the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum will host a free seminar on efforts to discover, preserve, and interpret the Underground Railroad in Iowa. The all-day seminar begins at 9:30 a.m. and features speakers from the National Park Service, the State Historical Society of Iowa, and other authorities on the Underground Railroad in Iowa. Parking at the Presidential Library and Museum is limited, so please arrive early. Additional parking lots are adjacent to and across the street from the National Historic Site Visitor Center, and are within walking distance from the Presidential Library and Museum.
The Underground Railroad seminar is sponsored by Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association, the State Historical Society of Iowa, the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, and the Humanities Iowa Speakers Bureau.
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum are in West Branch, Iowa at exit 254 of I-80. Both are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Central Time.
