Underground Railroad in Western PA

The Underground Railroad was undoubtedly one of the most significant forms of activism in our nation's history. It was broad in its reach, encompassing the United States and beyond, and profound in its meaning for a nation entwined in the sale of human life. Yet, that history, by its very secretive nature, is a difficult one to reveal.

Western Pennsylvania was a major thoroughfare for enslaved peoples seeking freedom. They followed routes that were carved by nature in rivers, streams and mountains, traveling mostly on foot, with an occasional ride in hidden compartments of wagons and other forms of transportation. Their numbers are not certain as formal records were not kept and few informal ones remain. Some documents written by those who assisted—sometimes referred to as the "conductors"—in this underground process do survive giving some indication of what those traveling on the railroad endured. Some publications written by, or for, those who managed to survive to secure their freedom, also exist.

Free people of African decent who lived in the area were also affected by the Fugitive slave laws, fleeing their homes as they faced the possibility of becoming enslaved. Still others became the voice of social change and self-empowerment for all Blacks of the era and beyond. The history is unique and boundless.