Engage

Anti-Slavery Movement and the Underground Railroad in Hudson, Ohio

This new mobile tour available this month compiles photos, key documents and audio narration related to 16 walkable stops and nine drivable stops. See sites like the former Western Reserve College, where famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered an 1854 commencement speech. Hudson, hudsonlibrary.org

Summit County Historical Society of Akron, OH

Visit the Akron home of famous abolitionist John Brown after a $1.2 million renovation is completed this spring. Check its website for a digital African American History Tour that includes Brown’s home, the Sojourner Truth Monument where she gave her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech in 1851 and more as a part of The University of Akron’s Rethinking Race: Black, White and Beyond series Feb. 22 to March 5. Akron, summithistory.org

Haines House Underground Railroad Museum

Ridgeway and Sarah Haines operated an Underground Railroad station at this Victorian home where they hid freedom seekers in the attic and possibly in an on-site cistern. They also hosted meetings of prominent abolitionists at their surrounding farm in Alliance, which was known as a hotbed of abolitionism. Their home and farmland now house the Alliance Area Preservation Society and a museum that’s set to reopen for tours this winter. Alliance, haineshouse.org

Spring Hill Historic Home

Quaker sheep farmers Thomas and Charity Rotch hid freedom seekers in the attic of their springhouse and basement of their kitchen at this Underground Railroad stop. The 1821 home and 4,000-acre farm are now a museum you can visit. Massillon, springhillhistorichome.org