The Historic Preservation Society of Gettysburg – Adams County (HGAC) leads Underground Railroad tours at the site of McAllister’s Mill, adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park along the Baltimore Pike. The site, now a ruin with foundations and waterways still visible, was most probably one of the first stops made in Adams County by people seeking freedom on their flight north from slavery. About two miles south of Gettysburg and six miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line, McAllister’s Mill provided shelter to hundreds of freedom seekers during the years leading up to the Civil War. After receiving assistance at the late 18^th century grist mill, the formerly enslaved were guided north about 10 miles into Upper Adams County to the homes of free African Americans and Quaker Abolitionists, forming critical links in one of the earliest regional networks of the Underground Railroad in the nation.  In 2011, the McAllister Mill site was accepted into the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, a nationwide collection of sites that have a verifiable association to the Underground Railroad.  To make arrangements for one of the tours, which start in May, call McAllister Mill Tours at (717) 659-8827.  For more information on the Network to Freedom, consult the NPS website at www.nps.gov/history/ugrr.

Two historic sites in Frederick, Maryland highlight the discourse that occurred over the issue of slavery.  At Kemp Hall, members of the state’s legislature hotly debated the issue as they met to decide whether to secede from the union.  Also, the Taney House interprets a property owned by Roger Brooke Taney, the fifth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Taney was mainly known for his affiliation with the Dred Scott decision.  To get started, check out www.hsfcinfo.org/taney/index.htm

Continuing down Route 15, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Scenic Byway, visitors should stop by Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg, Virginia.  Oatlands was formed in 1798 from 3,408 acres of prime Loudoun County farmland by a young bachelor named George Carter, a descendant of one of Virginia’s first families.  Basing his plantation economy on wheat production, Carter eventually branched out to grow other small grains; and in 1801 he began calling his plantation “Oatlands.”  In 1804 Carter began building a classic Federal-style mansion near the southern boundary of his property. As his farm took hold and his financial position strengthened, he added a terraced garden and numerous outbuildings to the property, including a propagation greenhouse, a smokehouse, and a three-story bank barn.  Just prior to the Civil War Oatlands housed the largest slave population in Loudoun County, numbering 128 people.  On January 5^th, the historic site will host a program that includes a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, historical commentary and scene painting from area historians and educators, a lantern-light walk around Oatlands with slave remembrance commentary and hymns, and concluding with discussion and input from those in attendance on the anniversary.  For more information, visit www.oatlands.org.

Let America’s story become yours this February with Prince William County’s free inaugural conference to commemorate the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s passage of the Emancipation Proclamation.  “Lest We Forget: A Conference on Enslavement and Emancipation” will take place February 21-23 at Hylton Memorial Chapel in Manassas, Virginia.  Join noted scholars, historians and actors as they explore the cultural and historical legacies of the antebellum period through dramatic plays, keynote addresses, forums, concerts and roundtable discussions that highlight a period that forever changed our nation.  The conference will conclude with day-long bus tours to significant African American sites in Prince William County, including Lucasville School, a one-room schoolhouse built solely for African American children, Ben Lomond Historic Site, which has one of the few remaining public slave quarters in Northern Virginia and the Jennie Dean School memorial, highlighting a school founded by a former slave and was one of the only sources of higher education for African Americans in Northern Virginia.  Details are available at www.manassasbullrun.com.

The arc of citizenship, from 18^th Century Slavery through the Jim Crow Era, can also be found at Montpelier, the former home of President James and Dolley Madison.  Understanding daily life at Montpelier during the 18th and early 19th centuries must include an understanding of the contributions and sacrifices of the enslaved community who were an integral and intimate part of Montpelier life.  The post-emancipation era at Montpelier has come to be defined by George Gilmore and his family. Born into slavery at Montpelier, Gilmore and his wife and children were living as a freed family near the property by December 1865. The Gilmore family eventually purchased a plot of land from Dr. James Ambrose Madison and established a small, independent farm. They resided in a log cabin that would be home to at least three generations of Gilmores.  And finally, the Montpelier Train Station houses a permanent exhibit entitled In the Time of Segregation.  Interpretive panels found in and outside the depot address the local African-American community who lived in this area throughout the period of segregation, the codification of laws which dictated that blacks and whites be given “separate but equal” accommodation.  Like other southern railway stations of the early twentieth century, the station’s depot building was designed to comply with state racial segregation laws. White and black passengers at the depot were required to use separate waiting rooms and ticket windows. During the same era, postal services at the depot were integrated because of federal laws that forbade racial segregation in U.S. post offices. By the end of the 1950s, all of the services at the Montpelier Train depot had become fully integrated. To learn more, visit www.montpelier.org.

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center preserves the rich heritage and legacy of the African American community of Charlottesville-Albemarle, Virginia. Through inter-generational offerings, the Center will promote a greater appreciation for and understanding of, the contributions of peoples of color locally, nationally, and globally.  The Heritage Center is located in the heart of the African American community, its main constituency. In the early 1960s, the City of Charlottesville undertook an urban renewal project that ruptured the core of the African American community. 

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, opening December 2012, will create a cultural center where African American traditions and history will be readily available.  For more information, visit www.jeffschoolheritagecenter.org.

Harpers Ferry

Two weeks after the Battle of Antietam and nine days after issuing the initial Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln arrived in Harpers Ferry.  The first site Lincoln came to after crossing the Potomac River was John Brown’s fort.  Dennis Frye, chief historian at Harpers Ferry National Park, stated that Lincoln’s reflections at that time very much could have been about his desire to finish what John Brown had started a few years earlier.  Lincoln had become hardened in his actions toward the South by that point.  Two months earlier the Second Confiscation Act was passed and a few days later on July 22^nd, the President issued a warning to the South.  And then of course, the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was issued.  A much different viewpoint than when he took office.

However, Lincoln’s trip to Harpers Ferry is just part of the story of the town’s prominent role in the civil rights movement.  John Brown’s uprising there in 1859 was a catalytic moment.  On May 30, 1881, abolitionist Frederick Douglass gave an address on John Brown on the campus of Storer College, stating “If John Brown did not end the war that ended slavery, he did at least begin the war that ended slavery. If we look over the dates, places and men, for which this honor is claimed, we shall find that not Carolina, but Virginia- not Fort Sumpter, but Harper’s Ferry and the arsenal- not Col. Anderson, but John Brown, began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic. Until this blow was struck, the prospect for freedom was dim, shadowy and uncertain. The irrepressible conflict was one of words, votes and compromises. When John Brown stretched forth his arm the sky was cleared.”

Harpers Ferry continued to be at the center of the African American experience in the early Twentieth Century.  The Niagara Movement convened there in August 1906 with leaders such as WEB Dubois and others.  Visitors to the area can get a full glimpse from slavery to civil rights in this historic quaint town.

Antietam

After visiting Harpers Ferry, Lincoln visited General George B. McClellan at his headquarters at Antietam about the general’s strategies and tactics following the battle that took place there.  The Battle of Antietam (Maryland) on September 17, 1862, was not the conclusive Union victory President Lincoln had wanted, but it was enough for him to issue his preliminary emancipation proclamation five days later, which stated that on January 1, 1863, all slaves in states still in rebellion would be free. In the proclamation’s wake, the war not only gained a higher moral purpose, but also record numbers of now-emancipated slaves joined the Union Army, thereby increasing its military strength. Indeed, the outcome of the American Civil War was decided on the fields on Antietam, not by the marching armies.

Frederick, Maryland

Before returning to the Nation’s Capital, President Lincoln made one final stop in Frederick.  He stopped by to visit the Ramsey house to visit General George Hartsuff who was recovering from injuries sustained at Antietam.  The President then headed to the B&O train station, where a crowd had begun to gather.  He stopped to make a few remarks, stating:

“Fellow Citizens, I see myself surrounded by soldiers and by the citizens of this good city of Frederick, all anxious to hear something from me. Nevertheless, I can only say—as I did elsewhere five minutes ago—that it is not proper for me to make speeches in my present position. I return thanks to our gallant soldiers for the good service they have rendered, the energies they have shown, the hardships they have endured, and the blood they have so nobly shed for this dear Union of ours. And I also return thanks, not only, to the soldiers, but to the good citizens of Frederick, and to all the good men, women, and children throughout this land for their devotion to our glorious cause. And I say this without any malice in my heart toward those who have done otherwise. May our children, and our children’s children, for a thousand generations, continue to enjoy the benefits conferred upon us by a united country, and have cause yet to rejoice under those glorious institutions bequeathed us by Washington and his compeers! Now, my friends—soldiers and citizens—I can only say once more—Farewell!”

Gettysburg

Over a year later, the President made a second visit to the area.  In November 1863, Lincoln came to Gettysburg for the dedication of the new national cemetery.  Gettysburg was at a crossroads, figuratively and physically, during the American Civil War.  The town, just 10 miles north of a slave state and the Mason-Dixon line, had one of the largest African-American populations in the North (per capita).

His remarks, now known as the famous Gettysburg Address, lasted for approximately 2 ½ minutes.  His speech was rooted in thought and previous remarks dating back months prior, to at least the summertime.  Another interesting piece of information about Gettysburg to note is that Thaddeus Stevens (a prominent figure in Spielberg’s “Lincoln” movie, played by Tommy Lee Jones) had a law practice near the town square for over twenty years.

(Sources:  Dr. Allen Guelzo, Director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College, Dennis Frye, Chief Historian at the Harpers Ferry National Park, Antietam National Battlefield, Harper’s Weekly)