2008 Underground Railroad Conference

Philadelphia Quest for Freedom Tour
9:00 a.m. – 3 p.m. Limited Seating – Paid in advance, no refund for cancellations, cost of lunch not included.
Beginning at the National Constitution Center in downtown Philadelphia, participants will tour important historic sites associated with America’s earliest history and historic personalities associated with the nation’s second capitol city.

8:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. Limited Seating – Paid in advance, no refund for cancellation, cost of lunch not included.
The Historic Abolitionist Community of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, including a
“Living Performance” by Philadelphia Performers, and Historic Gettysburg Battlefield, including a tour of the new $103 million National Park Service Interpretive Center.

Dr. Gary Nash is a Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also the Director of the National Center for History in Schools. His many publications include, Forging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia's Black Community, 1720-1840 (Harvard University Press, 1988).

Striving for Freedom: The National Park Service Role in Preservation and Interpretation of the Underground Railroad
Moderator: Diane Miller, National Coordinator National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program
Panelists:

• Larry McClenney, Park Ranger- “The Underground Railroad Walking Tour”
• Mary Jenkins, Interpretive Specialist - “Recent Changes in Interpretation at Independence NHP”
• Anna Coxe Toogood, Historian, Interpretation and Visitor Services- “Freedom in the First Family-Ona Judge and Hercules” and “Frederick Douglass and Fugitive Slave Trials in Independence Hall”

Documenting Freedom at the National Archives: A Professional’s Guide to Resources
Moderator: V. Chapman-Smith, Regional Administrator, National Archives and Records Administration, Mid Atlantic Region
Panelists:

• Shane Bell, Archives Technician, National Archives and Records Administration, Southeast Region- “Slavery and Freedom through the National Archives Southeast Region’s Holdings”
  Southeast coverage: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee
• Dorothy Dougherty, Public Programs Specialist, National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Region- “Slavery and Freedom through the National Archives Northeast Region’s Holdings”
  Northeast coverage: Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey
• Leslie Simon, Director of Archival Operations at the National Archives and Records Administration, Mid Atlantic Region- “Slavery and Freedom through the National Archives’ Mid Atlantic Region’s Holdings”
  Mid Atlantic coverage: Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Quest for Freedom hosts a luncheon highlighting the state’s Underground Railroad initiative with awards, announcement of new program plans, and a keynote address from author and Founder and Executive Director of Art Sanctuary, Lorene Cary.

Philadelphia Freedom: Intellectual Activism
Moderator: Dr. Valeria Harvell, PhD, Penn State University
Panelists:

• Janine Black, Temple University, “Cassey Activism in Post-Colonial Philadelphia”
• Daniel Meaders, PhD, William Patterson University- “Isaac Hopper: The Father of the Underground Railroad”
• Cheryl La Roche, PhD, Historical and Archaeological Consultant

Film: Christiana Riot of 1851
Panelists:

• Nancy Plumley, Christiana Historical Society
• Gary Plumley, Christiana Historical Society
• Darlene Colon, African American Historical Society of Lancaster County and the African American Veteran's Project of Lancaster County

Striving for Freedom: A Maryland Eastern Shore Story
Moderator: Marci Ross, Maryland Department of Tourism
Panelists:

• JOK Walsh, President, Caroline County Historical Society,
• Michael McCrea, Historic Property Owner, Jacob Leverton Property,
• Susan Meredith, Founder, Bucktown Village Foundation, Heritage Tourism

Exploring the Diversity of the Underground Railroad Story
Moderator: Olivia Cousins
Panelists:

• Frank Barrows, NPS Park Ranger, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park- “Fugitive Slave Traffic in a Whaling Port: Discovering New Bedford's Underground Railroad History”
• Kenneth Finkel, Executive Director, Arts & Culture Service, Philadelphia- “Hidden in Plain Sight: The Ganges Incident of 1800”
• Vince Vaise, NPS Chief Interpretation Officer,

Teaching and Telling an Underground Railroad Story
No charge to Philadelphia Teachers
Limited Seating

Philadelphia Freedom: Quakers and the Underground Railroad
Moderator: Mary Ellen Chijioke, Director, Hege Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC
Panelists:

• Thomas Hamm, Department of History, Friends Collection & College Archives, Earlham College- “The Diverse Responses of Pennsylvania Quakers to Radical Abolition, 1830-1860”
• Emma Jones Lapansky-Werner, Curator of the Quaker Collection, Haverford College,
• Donna McDaniel, Author- “What say you, Friend? Messages from yesteryear for Quaker women activists of today: A Beginning Exploration”

Visual Interpretation of Historical Sites, Landmarks, and Communities
Moderator: Stephen Marc, Arizona State University
Panelists:

• Wendel White, Professor of Art, Richard Stockton College, New Jersey,
• William E. Williams, Professor of Fine Arts, Haverford College,
• William Taylor, President, Taylor Photo, Princeton, New Jersey

Striving for Freedom: A Tidewater Virginia Underground Railroad Story
Moderator: Déanda Johnson, African American Research and Service Institute, Ohio University
Panelists:

• Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Norfolk State University- “Sheridan Ford and Clarissa Davis: The Underground Railroad in Portsmouth, Virginia”
• Dr. Tommy L. Bogger, History Department, Norfolk State University- “Underground Railroad Activity at the Norfolk Port”
• Dr. John T. Kneebone, University of Virginia- “A Break Down on the Underground Railroad: ‘Captain B’ and the Keziah Affair, 1858”

The Role of Education in Transforming History
Moderator: Jacqueline J. Wiggins, Educator and Consultant, School District of Philadelphia
Panelists:

• Dr. Shirley Turpen-Parham, Retired Educator, School District of Philadelphia and adjunct faculty member, Cheyney University- “A History of Black Public Education in Philadelphia: 1864-1914”
• Dana King, High School Social Studies, Lead Academic Coach in African and African American history, School District of Philadelphia- “Philadelphia's Mandated Course in African American History: The Journey to Implementation”
• Mr. Melvin Garrison, Project Manager, Teaching American History Program, School District of Philadelphia- “Teacher Professional Development in Social Studies: What Must Be Told, Now!!!”

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Julie Roy Jeffrey- "Whose Underground Railroad? Constructing the Memory of the Underground Railroad during the Gilded Age"

Dr. Julie Jeffrey is a Professor of History at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. Her publications include the book, The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism (UNC Press, 1998), which was awarded the Choice Award for Academic Book of Excellence and honorable mention for the Frederick Douglass Prize, given by the Gilder Lehrman Center at Yale University). Her most recent publication is the book, Abolitionists Remember: Antislavery Autobiographies and the Unfinished Work of Emancipation (UNC Press, 2008).

Documenting Freedom in the State of Pennsylvania: A Professional’s Guide to Resources
Moderator: Karen James, Coordinator for African American Programs for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Panelists:

• Historical Society of Pennsylvania
• Temple University Blockson Collection
• The Library Company

Keynote Speaker: Dr. John R. McKivigan- “Frederick Douglass & the Underground Railroad: Passenger, Advocate, Conductor, and Political Asylum Seeker”
Dr. John R. McKivigan is the Mary O'Brien Gibson Professor of History and the editor of The Frederick Douglass Papers at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. His publications include, The War Against Proslavery Religion: Abolitionism and the Northern Churches (Cornell University Press, 1984) and Slavery, Racial, and Cultural Conflict in Antebellum America (University of Tennessee Press, 2000).

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Research Day – Limited Seating
Research day will include visits to The Charles Blockson Collection at Temple University, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the National Archives; three of Philadelphia’s premier research facilities. Lunch is on your own.