Nurturing Pathways to Freedom

Enslaved, Freedom, and Beyond

Allison L. Smith, M. Ed. of Warren, Ohio.

Smith will share stories about the lives of those that were enslaved and their life after enslavement once they found freedom along the Underground Railroad. Allison L. Smith is a Fiber Artist Storyteller and retired teacher. She currently has a display in the lobby of the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library for the month of February. 

"The Canaan of Liberty": Ohio's Underground Railroad in History and Memory

Amy Laurel Fluker, PhD

Robert W. Reeder I Professor of History

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Youngstown State University

In the decades before the Civil War, Ohio rose to the forefront of the antislavery crusade. For freedom-seekers on the Underground Railroad, the state became a powerful symbol of liberation from slavery. Still today, the state prides itself on its importance to the antislavery  movement. Over time, however, popular awareness of the significant obstacles that freedom- seekers and their allies faced has faded. This talk will bridge the gap between myth and reality  by exploring the fascinating legacy of the Underground Railroad in Ohio.

TBA