Friends of the Network to Freedom Association, Inc. presents
Meeting at the Crossroads
Friends of the Network to Freedom Association 3rd Annual Conference
September 16-19, 2009, Indianapolis, Indiana
Hilton Indianapolis North
Please note that credit card conference registration is limited to online registrations only. All other payments accepted by mail.
Advance Registration Deadline:
August 22, 2009
Freedom Trails at the Crossroads: Paths to Telling the Underground Railroad Story through History, Teaching, and Technology
Taking a cue from our host city, Indianapolis, which is referred to as the “Crossroads of America,” this year’s conference theme is “Freedom Trails at the Crossroads: Paths to Telling the Underground Railroad Story through History, Teaching, and Technology.”
The conference will explore the Underground Railroad as a meeting point or a zone of contact in which cultures, geographies, regions, races, ethnicities, religious and political ideologies met and interacted. In addition to exploring past connections, the conference also seeks to explore ways in which present day people interested in the story of the Underground Railroad transcend local histories and make connections to a larger national story with global significance.
Download a pdf file of the complete agenda.
| WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 | |
| 9:00 am-4:00 pm | Pre-Conference Northern Route Underground Railroad Tour See Details |
| 5:00-6:00 pm | Registration |
6:00-8:00 pm |
Friends of the Network to Freedom Reception |
| THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 | |
| 7:30 am | Registration |
| 8:00-9:30 am | Meeting of the Friends of the Network to Freedom Association and Breakfast |
10:00-11:45 am |
Opening Ceremony and Keynote Keynote Speaker: Dr. Keith Griffler, Chair of the Department of African American Studies at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York “Escaping the Land of the Free: History, Myth, and the Meaning of the Underground Railroad” See Details |
| 12:00-1:30 pm | Lunch |
| 1:45-3:30 pm | Session 1- Myths and Realities of the Underground Railroad: Evaluating and Re-Evaluating Definitions and Histories of the Underground Railroad See Details |
| 3:45-5:15 pm | Session 2 - “America’s Historic Sacred Places: Centers for Freedom and Economic Justice” (Limited Seating and Pre-Registration Required) See Details Session 3- Hoosier Women and the Fight for Freedom See Details |
6:30-8:30 pm  |
Dinner Theater by Freetown Village “A Matter of Justice” See Details |
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 | |
| 8:00 am | Registration |
| 9:00 am-12:15 pm | Historical Re-Enactor Workshop (Limited Seating and Pre-Registration Required) See Details Session 1 (9:00-10:30 am)- The Business of Living History See Details Session 2 (10:45 am- 12:15 pm)- History Comes Alive See Details |
| 9:00-10:30 am | Session 4 - Community Partnerships and Telling the Story of the Underground Railroad at a Crossroads of the Ohio Valley See Details Session 5 - Indiana Quakers, Black Migration to the Midwest, Race, and Law to 1865 See Details |
| 10:45 am-12:15 pm | Session 6 - Documenting Legal and Geographical Routes to Freedom See Details Session 7 - Rebellion, Revolt, and Insurrection: Violence in the Service of Freedom See Details |
| 12:30-1:30 pm | Lunch |
1:45-2:45 pm |
Keynote Dr. Margaret Washington, Professor of History, Cornell University “Sojourner Truth and Freedom Pathways” Dr. Washington's most recent major work is Sojourner Truth's America. This definitive biography unravels Sojourner Truth's world within the broader panorama of American history, slavery, the black freedom struggle and other significant reforms in the turbulent era of Abraham Lincoln. See Details |
| 3:00-4:30 pm | Session 8 - Digging for Freedom: Archaeology and the Underground Railroad See Details Session 9 - Education, Religion, and the Underground Railroad See Details Session 10 - The Atlantic Slave Trade Database (Limited Seating and Pre-Registration Required) See Details |
| 6:00-9:00 pm | Experience Indianapolis - Indianapolis Downtown Walking Tour See Details |
| SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 | |
| 8:30 am-4:30 pm | Post-Conference Southern Route Underground Railroad Tour See Details |
Refund policy: 70% Refund Prior to August 22nd. No Refund after August 22.
