The Underground Railroad Black History Posters

The Underground Railroad

Poster Text: The Underground Railroad was not a railroad, and it was not underground. It was a secret system of routes used by runaway slaves to escape the South before the Civil War Most routes le into the northern sates and Canada, but some led to the Caribbean. Mexico, and western U.S. territories. the Underground Railroad began in the 1700s, when Quakers and abolitionists fed, hid, and guided runaways during their escape from slavery. By the 1830s, a few abolitionists communities were working together along the Underground Railroad. Because it was informal and illegal, and records were not kept, the exact number of people helped by the Underground Railraod will never be known. Most historians estimate that about 40,000 slaves used it to escape – a small but important percentage, considering there were four million slaves in the South in 1860. Free and runaway blacks did most of the work as the "conductors" and "stationmasters" who assisted escaping slaves. Slaves who reached freedom would often return to the south to liberate family or friends. Most runaways were men between the ages of 16 and 35. They traveled alone at night, using the North Star to guide them when the sky was clear. On cloudy nights, runaways uesed tree moss as their guide, since moss often grows on the north side of trees. Runaways also received hidden signs along the routes. Some stationmasters hung lanterns in windows of "stations" or displayed patterned quilts that actually held secret messages for runaway slaves. The underground Railroad cane to an end when the Civil War began.

Josiah Henson, one of the individuals profiled on this poster, may have been Harriet Beecher Stowe's model for Uncle Tom. (FYI- Josiah was the uncle of polar explorer Matthew Henson.)

Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Josiah Henson, Levi Coffin
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Great Black Americans -
Harriet Tubman
b. c. 1820; Dorchester Co., Maryland
d. 3-10-1913; Auburn, NY

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Frederick Douglass
b. 2-14-c.1818; MD
d. 2-20-1895

"Strive earnestly to add to your knowledge. So long as you remain in ignorance, so long will you fail to command the respect of your fellow man."

Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass grew up to become a leader in the antislavery and women's rights movements. He was the first black citizen to hold a high rank in the United States government.

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A Bold Stroke for Freedom, from "The Underground Railroad", by William Still, 1872

• William Still was a free born black business man who aided runaway slaves.

The Masthead of William Lloyd Garrison's Abolitionist Newspaper 'The Liberator', Giclee Print

The Separation of the Mother and Child, illustration from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Harriet Beecher Stowe posters

John Brown (1800-59), the Martyr, (Pub. by Currier & Ives, 1870)

A folk song "Follow the Drinking Gourd" gave coded directions to runaway slaves. Using the constellation pattern Ursa Major, commonly known as the Big Dipper in North America, helped fugitive slaves locate Polaris - the North Star, thus giving them a reference point in night time travels.

Frederick Douglass named his abolitionist newspaper "The North Star."

Images from Wikipedia.