Historic Eden Cemetery

September is International Underground Railroad Month

On Thursday, September 23, 2021, the Delaware County Council in Pennsylvania designated September as International Underground Railroad Month. The resolution was presented by Councilperson Kevin Madden at the Delaware County Historical Society.

Please read a portion of the text here

Whereas, Delaware County is home to many historic homes, halls, mills, and farms that were vital parts of the Underground Railroad network; and,

Whereas, untold numbers of men and women, including abolitionists and formerly enslaved persons, who risked their own freedom to help freedom seekers escape bo***ge; and,

Whereas, the Historic Eden Cemetery, in Collingdale, is the burial site of many freedom seekers and abolitionists with connections to the Underground Railroad including Henrietta Duterte, James Forten, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Stephen Smith, William Still "Father of the Underground Railroad" and William Whipper; and, ...

Now, Therefore, Be, It Resolved, that We, the County Council of Delaware County honor those who struggled and sacrificed for the freedom of all people and hereby declare September 2021 to be International Underground Railroad Month in Delaware County as we continue our long march towards the day when every person knows the full unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAxQ888EvU4&list=OLAK5uy_mYGlFUcxQHICNXWd9KpKSSUdnZJcjsLbQ&index=7

September is International Underground Railroad Month

Martha Jane Parham Ridley, 1840 - 1919
Cornelius Ridley, 1839 - 1922
Citizens of Eden

Freedom Seekers

Living on neighboring plantations in Southampton County, Virginia, separately they self liberated during the Civil War, and reunited in Media, Delaware County, PA

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154628482/cornelius-ridley

Their great great grandchildren at Eden

September is International Underground Railroad Month

On Thursday, September 23, 2021, Philadelphia City Councilperson Jamie Gauthier introduced a Resolution designating September as International Underground Railroad Month in Philadelphia

Read the text of the Resolution herehttp://phlcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/CM-Gauthier-Underground-Railroad-Month-Resolution.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mPQ_hKhrTw&list=RDuNbmrpuq1QY&index=8

September is International Underground Railroad Month Closing Ceremony

Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. EST (virtual event)

The National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program will host a virtual “Closing Ceremony for International Underground Railroad Month.” At this event, the Network to Freedom Program will announce the recipients of its Network to Freedom Awards and highlight the newest listings accepted in its 42nd Round of Applications.

The event will be a live virtual event. Advanced registration is required.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx...

https://www.nps.gov/.../2021-09-20-closing-ceremony..

September is International Underground Railroad Month

Siah "Josiah Hulett" Carter, 1839 - 1892, Citizen of Eden, Sailed to Freedom

Freedom Seeker

On May 18, 1862 Siah Carter sought freedom and rowed a small boat out to the Union Navy's iron-clad warship, the USS Monitor, anchored off of City Point in the James River. He enlisted in the US Navy for a three-year term, the first "contraband" to join the USS Monitor’s crew.

Married Eliza Tarrow, a formerly enslaved person, and together they relocated to Philadelphia PA

https://monitorcenter.org/the-monitors-crew

The Monitor's Crew - The USS Monitor Center Commanders Officers Crew

September is International Underground Railroad Month

Sailing to Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 6:30 PM
(vistual event)

Join authors Dr. Timothy Walker, Dr. Cheryl LaRoche, and National Park Service Ranger Shawn Quigley for a conversation about the new book, Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sailing-to-freedom-the-maritime-underground-railroad-tickets-177182065327?utm_source=eventbrite&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_editorial&utm_content=loc.101718083.r2021_39&utm_term=ebemnsuserinsight&ref=ebemnsuserinsight&afu=1176513345&rank=3&recommended_events_quantity=15&aff=ebemnsuserinsight

Sailing to Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad Join the National Park Service for a conversation about the new book, Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad

When Black History Is Unearthed, Who Gets to Speak for the Dead?

by Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, October 4, 2021 issue

"Underneath America lies an apartheid of the departed."

The movement to save Black cemeteries has been growing for decades, led by Black women like Barnes and Gonzalez-Garcia, who have families to care for and work full-time jobs but volunteer countless hours and formidable organizing skills looking after the dead and upending American history. They transcribe death certificates; they collect oral histories. They bring in community organizations...

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/04/when-black-history-is-unearthed-who-gets-to-speak-for-the-dead
"

When Black History Is Unearthed, Who Gets to Speak for the Dead? Efforts to rescue African American burial grounds and remains have exposed deep conflicts over inheritance and representation.

September is International Underground Railroad Month

Mount Moriah A.M.E. Cemetery Deserves Better

According to Dr. Charles L. Blockson, a small group of free blacks who settled in New Hope used Mount Moriah A.M.E. Church, founded circa 1818, as a hiding place for the self-emancipated.

Mount Moriah A.M.E. Church Cemetery is the final resting place for some formerly enslaved, including Henry Lee, and Rachel Moore and two of her children.

https://abolitionhalldeservesbetter.wordpress.com/2021/09/12/international-underground-railroad-month-september-bucks-county-pennsylvania-mount-moriah-cemetery/

September is International Underground Railroad Month

Hester “Hetty” Elizabeth Emory Burr
1796 - 1862, Citizen of Eden

Abolitionist, Business Owner, Reformer

Member of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
Involved with the Women's Anti-Slavery Conventions of 1838 and 1839
"A Stalwart" of the Colored Female Free Produce Society of Pennsylvania
Co-founder of the Moral Reform Retreat with Hetty Reckless

"Hetty" Burr was an active member of the Underground Railroad. Raised money for the defense of the men indicted for treason for the Christiana Resistance of 1851.

https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-109
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-christiana-riot-1773557

Astounding Story of Freedom Seekers Who Fought Back In Rural Pennsylvania Freedom seekers in Pennsylvania resisted an attempt to capture them and the violent incident created a national uproar in 1851.

Decolonizing Archaeology: The African Burial Ground 30 years later

Friday, September 24, 2021 4:00 PM EST (virtual event)

The Flatbush African Burial Ground Coalition presents this teach-in.

Dr. Michael Blakey will unpack the lessons of creating the National African Burial Ground monument in lower Manhattan.

Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo will share the history of the Moses Macedonia African Cemetery and their current path to halting the further desecration of that site.

https://www.growhousenyc.org/flatbush-african-burial-ground

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/decolonizing-archaeology-the-african-burial-ground-30-years-later-tickets-170201365867

Decolonizing Archaeology: The African Burial Ground 30 years later On the eve of the 30th year anniversary of the discovery of the Lower Manhattan African Burial Ground, Dr. Michael Blakey shares lessons.

A COMMEMORATION OF WILLIAM STILL'S COURAGEOUS LIFE

Thursday, October 7, 2021 6:00 PM EST (virtual event)

Join host, Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens as she leads a discussion on the life of African-American Abolitionist, William Still.

the Program in African American History, The Library Company of Philadelphia

https://support.librarycompany.org/.../a-commemor.../e354642

support.librarycompany.org {{MetaTags.description}}

September is International Underground Railroad Month

Henrietta Duterte
1817 - 1903, Citizen of Eden

Abolitionist, Owner/Operator of a Funeral Business, Philanthropist

She literally turned her trade into a vehicle for emancipation. As a member of the Underground Railroad, she often hid freedom seekers in coffins or disguised them as part of funeral processions to ensure their safe passage.

https://www.historicamerica.org/journal/2021/4/8/the-work-and-activism-of-henrietta-s-bowers-duterte
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtW4FFdoC-A

Escape Through Death

September is International Underground Railroad Month

Sarah Mapps Douglass,
1806 - 1882, Citizen of Eden

Abolitionist, Educator, Painter, Public Lecturer, Writer

a founder of the Female Literary Association
founding member of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
vice president of the Freedmen's Aid Society

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Mapps_Douglass
https://vimeo.com/88108986
https://www.brainpickings.org/2021/06/16/sarah-mapps-douglass-flowers/

Sarah Mapps Douglass’s Flowers: The First Surviving Art Signed by an African-American Woman A rose is a rose is a revolution.

September is International Underground Railroad Month

Amy Hester "Hetty" Boadley Reckless,
1776 - 1881, Citizen of Eden

Abolitionist, Reformer

founding member of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
board member of the Female Vigilant Committee
co-founded the Moral Reform Retreat with Hestor "Hetty" Elizabeth Emory Burr

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hetty_Reckless
https://paintedbride.org/events/if-she-stood/
https://vimeo.com/88108986

If She Stood (full) "If She Stood" by Ain Gordon © 2013 Imagine the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society in its Quaker Meeting...

Genealogy as History, History as Genealogy: The Duality of Discovering Your Ancestors

an AAHGS virtual conference

October 13 - 16, 2021

Sessions include: Standing On Holy Ground: The Unmarked Graves of our Ancestors Research Project; Bold Pilgrim Cemetery: From the Abandoned List to the National Registry; African American Fraternal Orders in Southern Cemeteries; and, a Cemetery Preservation Panel Discussion.

The AAHGS Annual Conference is the largest international African American conference that promotes African-ancestored family history, genealogy, and cultural diversity by bringing together subject matter experts who promote scholarly research, provide resources for historical and genealogical studies, creates a network of persons with similar interests, and assist members in documenting their histories.

https://web.cvent.com/.../websitePage:645d57e4-75eb-4769...
https://www.aahgs.org/