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Exploring Two Capital Cities At the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., you’ll find exhibitions that explore the complex story of slavery and freedom. Visitors see how the actions of ordinary men and women demanded freedom and transformed the country. Elsewhere in Washington, D.C. you’ll find one end of the nearly 200-mile long C&O canal towpath. The path—which runs all the way to Cumberland, Maryland—was used by freedom seekers like[...]

The National Park Service created the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom to commemorate the places and people who shaped the journey to freedom. Network to Freedom sites are documented places where the enslaved escaped from bondage, the routes they took, places where they stayed or found assistance, and sometimes places where their freedom was tried and tested. Network to Freedom programs provide authentic information about the Underground Railroad and people who escaped. Network to[...]

BALTIMORE, MD (August 22, 2024) — Governor Wes Moore today proclaimed September 2024 as the sixth annual International Underground Railroad Month in Maryland. The month acknowledges the significance of the Underground Railroad, and all those involved, for its contribution to the eradication of legal enslavement in the United States and as a cornerstone for the more comprehensive civil rights movement that followed. “The heroes of the Underground Railroad continue to have an international impact even[...]

BALTIMORE, MD (August 29, 2023) — Maryland Secretary of Commerce Kevin Anderson today presented a proclamation issued by Governor Wes Moore declaring September 2023 as the 5th annual International Underground Railroad Month in Maryland. The month acknowledges the significance of the Underground Railroad, and all those involved, for its contribution to the eradication of slavery in the United States and as a cornerstone for the more comprehensive civil rights movement that followed. “The Underground Railroad[...]

BALTIMORE, MD (September 1, 2021) – Governor Larry Hogan today proclaimed September 2021 as the third annual International Underground Railroad Month. The month acknowledges the significance of the Underground Railroad, and all those involved, for its contribution to the eradication of slavery in the United States and as a cornerstone for a more comprehensive civil rights movement that followed. September also marks the self liberation of two of Maryland’s freedom fighters, Harriet Tubman and Frederick[...]