NPS September 16-21, 2025: Underground Railroad WeekThe Underground Railroad is one of the most remarkable stories in American history. This is a story of ordinary men and women coming together in harmony, united to pursue the extraordinary mission of helping those in their journey to freedom. This movement, which thrived from the late 18th century through the Civil War, was a testament to the power of unity, courage, and a shared commitment to liberty. This event is provided in cooperation with Harriet Tubman National Historical Park. Featured ProgramsOngoing ActivitiesCraft: Make your Own Constellations! Let your creativity shine with a hands-on constellation craft! Design your own constellation by creating a pattern of shining stars that tells a story or lights the way for your own journey. Pop-Up Program: "Navigation and the Night Sky" (Tuesday & Wednesday Only, 1-2pm) Before the GPS, freedom seekers looked to the night sky to find their way North. Join Ranger Marsela to learn about celestial navigation, and how the stars offered hope and direction along the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman National Historical Park and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Stop by to learn about our sister park, and the important Underground Railroad sites nearby! Wednesday, September 17:6pm: "The Underground Railroad as Afrofuturism: Exploring New Galaxies in the Outer Spaces of Slavery" with Dr. dann j. Broyld This lecture employs the lens of Afrofuturism to address new dimensions of the Underground Railroad, detailing what imagination, tact, and technology, it took for fugitive Blacks to flee to the "outer spaces of slavery." The talk addresses the intersections of race, technology, and liberation by retroactively applying a modern concept to dynamic historical Black moments. Special attention will be paid to runaways in Central and Western New York that fled to Canada, as well as Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass. This lecture is hosted in partnership with the Cayuga Museum in Auburn, New York. Dr. Broyld will appear virtually. American Sign Language interpretation is made possible through a grant provided by the National Park Foundation. dann j. Broyld is an associate professor of African American History at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He earned his PhD in nineteenth-century United States and African Diaspora History at Howard University. His work focuses on the American–Canadian borderlands and issues of Black identity, migration, and transnational relations as well as oral history, material culture, and museum-community interactions. He was a 2017-18 Fulbright Canada scholar at Brock University and his book Borderland Blacks: Two Cities in the Niagara Region During the Final Decades of Slavery (2022) was published with the Louisiana State University Press. Borderland Blacks won the Ontario Historical Society's 2022-23 Fred Landon Book Award. Copies of Dr. Broyld's book, Borderland Blacks, are available for purchase at the Women's Rights NHP bookstore. Thursday, September 18:1pm: “The Life and Legacy of Harriet Tubman in Her Birth State of Maryland” with Ranger Joanna Trojanowski from Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park (Maryland State Parks) Learn about the landscape and community that shaped Harriet Tubman into the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad. Get a chance to see how the Maryland Park Service in partnership with the National Park Service, interprets Harriet Tubman's youth in Dorchester County and shares her courageous life story of escaping slavery and journeys on the Underground Railroad with visitors. Friday, September 19:1pm: “Forged in Freedom: The Sewards and the Underground Railroad” with Kate Grindstaff, Seward House Museum Harriet Tubman's journey from Civil War battlefields extends into today's boardrooms as the fight for fair pay continues. This presentation will focus on Harriet Tubman's quest for her earned wages while examining the ongoing journey toward pay equity for women. All Friday programs at Harriet Tubman NHP, including regularly scheduled ranger programs, will include American Sign Language interpretation, made possible by a National Park Foundation grant. The M'Clintocks owned a general store in Waterloo, and supported the cause of abolition by refusing to sell goods produced by enslaved labor. Join Ranger Josh to learn about the items sold in the M'Clintocks' store! 2pm: "Conscience Over Commerce: M’Clintock Family and the Free Produce Movement" with Ranger Joshua Pelham Nineteenth century abolitionists launched the “Free Produce Movement,” which was a boycott of goods made by enslaved labor. Supporters believed that refusing to buy or sell cotton, sugar, and tobacco, among other products, would help resist and dismantle the economics of slavery. Discover how the M’Clintock Family leveraged their abolitionist beliefs and general store to choose conscience over commerce. Saturday, September 201:30-3:30pm: M'Clintock Open House and Pop-Up Program "Strike Against Slave Labor" The M'Clintocks owned a general store in Waterloo, and supported the cause of abolition by refusing to sell goods produced by enslaved labor. Join Ranger Josh to learn about the items sold in the M'Clintocks' store! 2pm: "Conscience Over Commerce: M’Clintock Family and the Free Produce Movement" with Ranger Joshua Pelham Nineteenth century abolitionists launched the “Free Produce Movement,” which was a boycott of goods made by enslaved labor. Supporters believed that refusing to buy or sell cotton, sugar, and tobacco, among other products, would help resist and dismantle the economics of slavery. Discover how the M’Clintock Family leveraged their abolitionist beliefs and general store to choose conscience over commerce. Sunday, September 212pm: "Conscience Over Commerce: M’Clintock Family and the Free Produce Movement" with Ranger Joshua Pelham Nineteenth century abolitionists launched the “Free Produce Movement,” which was a boycott of goods made by enslaved labor. Supporters believed that refusing to buy or sell cotton, sugar, and tobacco, among other products, would help resist and dismantle the economics of slavery. Discover how the M’Clintock Family leveraged their abolitionist beliefs and general store to choose conscience over commerce.
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Last updated: September 11, 2025