News Release
Date: June 21, 2021
Contact: Amanda Pollock
Lakewood, CO – The National Park Service’s (NPS) National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, NPS Regions 6, 7, and 8, and the Organization of American Historians (OAH) will host a virtual public open house 6-7:15 p.m., Central Daylight Time, on Thursday, June 24, to conclude a scholars’ roundtable examining the Underground Railroad in Texas and the southern borderlands.
Juneteenth dominates public memory surrounding slavery and freedom in Texas; yet the struggle for freedom began much earlier than the arrival of U.S. troops in Galveston on June 19, 1865. This open house will allow NPS and OAH to share preliminary outcomes from a scholars’ roundtable and discuss ongoing academic work around the Underground Railroad in Texas. Through the scholars’ roundtable and public open house, NPS and OAH hope to share current scholarship about the Underground Railroad through Texas into Mexico and to identify potential future partners and stakeholder groups interested in documenting, preserving, and sharing this history.
Registration is required and all are invited to attend the open house. The event will be recorded and posted online in the following weeks for those who cannot attend.
Founded in 1907, the OAH is the largest professional organization in the country representing historians of US history. The OAH promotes excellence in the scholarship, teaching and presentation of US history, encourages wide discussion of historical questions, and is a leading voice for the equitable treatment of all history practitioners. The OAH publishes the Journal of American History—a journal of record in the field—undertakes a wide range of projects with the National Park Service, and maintains a robust schedule of academic and public programming.
The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program is a catalyst for innovation, partnerships, and scholarship that connects and shares the diverse legacy of the Underground Railroad across boundaries and generations. There are currently over 680 locations that are part of the network in 39 states, plus Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National Park Service Regions 6, 7, and 8 are working to better integrate and support the work of the Network to Freedom within the eight states it services.
Last updated: June 23, 2021