PURPOSE/RESEARCH INTENTIONS The Underground Railroad was a deceptive undertaking that is renown as having been one of the most significant expressions of American civil liberties and civic virtue. It is far from comparable to anything in American history. The borders were limitless and the movement of runaways was operated not with force or high finance but through committed and often highly spontaneous acts of courage and kindness on the part of folk unknown to each other. It did not exist just between the antebellum years of 1830 and 1860, nor was it organized through just northern states, but south through Florida and Mexico. The UGRR dealt with educational, military, criminal and socioeconomic issues. Moreover, as risky as it may seem, many of the slaves who had escaped along the Underground Railroad subsequently developed into leaders for abolition. As puzzling as it may be, America's cultural allies of Britain influenced much of their leadership principles. So what ultimately emerged in the contexts of American history is one of the most courageous stories of American people. The Underground Railroad and the teamwork behind such a movement needed to remain tight-lipped and undeviated. The need for secrecy arose because Harrisburg was a place which owners of missing slaves came to catch their quote-unquote property. Therefore many abolitionists and those who harbored fugitives may have terminated any documentation that revealed their involvement in the UGRR. Consequently, lack of written documents have created a great myth about the UGRR. As a result, one of the most important questions that must be looked upon more deeply is how much of the UGRR is genuine and how much is fabrication? The fact is that all history has been divided by generations. The only history that was not modified was the first history. Only a tape recorder or video camera could have kept history unchanged. So what motivated me to take on this project is two-fold. First, during the summer of 2000 my father and I were mountain-biking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which overlook the entire city. We came across two slave graves and, upon further research, learned that the site had been documented in the Patriot News in 1989. Secondly, there is an unihabited springhouse which is located in Swatara Township (Harrisburg) that served as a station of the Underground Railroad. The domicile, located near today's East Shopping Mall, was owned by Dr. William Rutherford, and provided shelter and a stream to deter scent to hunting slave catchers. Interestingly enough, during my research I learned that Rutherford also owned property along Front Street, that too served as a station of the UGRR. And, he had two brothers, Sam and Abner, who owned farms near the springhouse, and too, conducted fugitives to safety. THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM'S ATTACK ON HARRISBURG'S FREE BLACK COMMUNITY There is a story about newly appointed (as mandated in the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law) US Slave Commissioner named Richard McAllister and his corupt constables. They worked as a tandem to arrest free Blacks throughout the city of Harrisburg and Dauphin County and send them back into the South. Documented in local newspapers are stories of arrests in Lebanon, Middletown and locations along Front and Market Streets where innocent persons of color were arrested by one of McAllister's constables and sent on their way to bondage. Several instances had the white and black communities of Harrisburg banned together in vigilant resistance against the criminal justice system. In fact, Harrisburg was the first place to resist the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, not Christiana! Also, members of the Anti-Slavery Society, cheifly Dr. William Rutherford and Charles Rawn, Esq. traveled with the illustrious William Lloyd Garrison to Baltimore to purchase Jim Philips for $800, who had been kidnapped and send to the auction bloc on the Baltimore ports. Meanwhile, Philips' family waited back in Harrisburg in anticipation of Jims' return and in gratitude to the members of the Anti-Slavery Society. There were community uprisings in both 1852 and 1855 which followed the 1850 resistance. And just as importantly, the most renown district judge in Harrisburg's 19th century history, John Pearson, housed and employed escaped slave John Quincy Adams for many years.

HARRISBURG'S HEROES UGRR NETWORK Free blacks throughout Harrisburg formed a variety of institutions to fight the effects of enslavement and to serve the social and economic needs of growing free black communities, such as Negro Hill, today's Allison Hill. Vigilance Committees and Churches were the most important of these institutions. That organized black abolition activity denounced slavery and promoted a fight back against the institution as an attempt to stir up antislavery sentiment to those ignorant of abolition efforts. Racial independence sometime angered white abolitionist like Garrison, but it seemed that lineal autonomy and violence was the only thing that would stop oppression. In Harrisburg, William "Pap" Jones, Harriet McClintock Marshall, Joseph Bustill, George Chester, Thomas Morris Chester, David Chester, Reverend Stevens and William Howard Day emerged as several of the most intellectual spokespersons for African American vigilance throughout Central Pennsylvania. Other white abolitionists, such as Rudolf Kelker, Charles Rawn, John Winebrenner, Mordecai McKinney, Judge John Pearson, Samuel Rutherford, Abner Rutherford, and Dr. William Rutherford played important roles in movement within the Underground Railroad. Subsequently, there were several fugitives who made it to Harrisburg and decided their obligation was to remain in such a location, just as John Quincy Adams, Jane Chester (wife of George, mother of David and T. Morris Chester), Daniel Dangerfield, and Jim Philips. Whose stories are some of the more compelling of all runaway slaves. Conceivably, the best way to understand the relationship between white and black abolitionists is to say that moral suasion and racial autonomy were complementary. Both concepts clarify the relationship between independence and dependence. Yes, there was a split between abolitionists, but both were dependent upon the other. Albeit, both parties headed in different direction of political thought, and the relationship was strained by an ever increasing racial tension, but each knew that they were interdependent and understood that ideological cooperation by the other would help to enhance theirs. While there may have been other reasons for social animosity, an animosity that more than anything put Frederick Douglass into politics, the others Jones, Marshall, Bustill, Chester, and Day came from that type of social situation. So after retaining the names of several anti-slavery advocates who resided in Harrisburg, both black and white, the question arises; did they possess the capability of working together in assisting runaway slaves, or had Harrisburgs abolitionists resemble more like the nationwide scene of divergent activism? In a lot of ways Harrisburg was similar to the bigger cities often discussed by abolition and UGRR scholars. The city consisted of riots in 1825, 1850 and 1852, thus indicating the importance of the Harrisburgs criminal justice system. Furthermore, the Capital City founded its very own Anti-Slavery Society in 1836, had its own colonization society entitled the Young Mens Colonization Society of Dauphin County, contained stations along the Underground Railroad such as the homes of two aforementioned, Rudolf Kelker's 9 S. Front Street address, and William Rutherford's 11 S. Front Street address, and harbored several antislavery advocates in Dr. Rutherford, 1805-1873, Abner Rutherford, 1814-1890, Sam Rutherford, 1810-1872, Kelker, 1820-1906, Chester, 1834 -1890, Day, 1825-1900 and Bustill, 1822-1895. All were pieces to the collective American antislavery story. Moreover, a didactic medium was Harrisburgs proximity. The city afforded runaways a large river, beautiful wooded landscapes, and an abolitionist community determined to help the antislavery cause.

LESSON PLANS & METHODOLOGY Todd Mealy School District of Lancaster Instructional Planning Guide (5 Day Lesson Plan) ANTI-SLAVERY IN THE CAPITAL CITY Course: IB History of the Americas Standards: Providing historical perspective. Era 4. St. 2A - Evaluate the factory system from the perspectives of owners and workers and assess its impact on the rise of the labor movement in the antebellum period. [Consider multiple perspectives] Era 4. St. 2B - Explain the growth of free African American communities in the cities and account for the rise of racial hostility. Era 4 St. 2D - Explain how the cotton gin and the opening of new lands in the South and West led to the increased demand for slaves. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships] Era 4. St. 2D - Analyze the argument that the institution of slavery retarded the emergence of capitalist institutions and values in the South. [Evaluate major debates among historians] Era 4. St 2D - Describe the plantation system and the roles of their owners, their families, hired white workers, and enslaved African Americans. [Consider multiple perspectives] Era 4. St. 2D - Identify the various ways in which African Americans resisted the conditions of their enslavement and analyze the consequences of violent uprisings. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships] Era 4. St. 2D - Evaluate how enslaved African Americans used religion and family to create a viable culture and ameliorate the effects of slavery. [Obtain historical data] Assessment: Students will be graded on participation in discussion, ability to interpret documents, and cooperative work. Students will create and turn in a newspaper article about antislavery in Harrisburg, PA. Lesson Objectives: Students will be able to interpret art and visuals in interpreting a historical event. Students will be able to work together in created a newspaper article that reflects society of Harrisburg before the Civil War. Students will be able to understand the purpose of anti-slavery activity and how race is connected to slavery. Students will be able to analyze primary and secondary documents. Students will be able to compare anti-slavery activity in Harrisburg with that of the rest of the country (and Lancaster County as well). Materials and Supports: Textbook, Newspaper articles, Published articles, Photographs, Maps of Harrisburg, Lesson Procedures: KWL Activity - Independent Work: give student’s list of items. Have them work independently, quietly, and secretive in writing down the first things that come to mind about the listed items. The items will be related to the UGRR and pre-Civil War society. Give Students 15 minutes to answer the sheet. After 15 minutes, group students to have them discuss further their responses. Then come together as a whole class in discussion. Lecture: relate the institution of slavery with RACE. Be sure students are fully understanding of abolition and the perspectives of slaveholders and non-slave holders. Describe how moral society influenced abolition behavior. Lecture focus question: "How do these terms to Anti-Slavery Activity?" PAIR ANALYSIS: Hand students three paintings of the John Harris story. Tell the story of how Harris' slave, Hercules, saved his life from neighboring Natives. Explain the causes and the effects after the rescue. Have students work in pairs to interpret each painting. Can they be compared or differentiated? What ideas was each artist trying to convey? What conclusions can you come to? What questions arise? PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DOCUMENTS ANALYSIS: Have students read articles by Blockson, Eric Ledell Smith, and Samuel Rutherford, and newspaper articles of the Harrisburg Patriot News, the Annals of Harrisburg, obituaries, maps, etc. (Primary and Secondary documents) Have students come to conclusions for each article. COMPARATIVE STUDY: Have students look at documents for both Lancaster County and Dauphin County and have them find similarities and differences. Have students come to 3 conclusions and 3 questions. 1) Compare Harrisburgs Anti-Slavery Society & Colonization Society to the rest of the country. ** Attempt to go on a WALKING TOUR of the Harrisburg sites. Work with the CA teacher on making this a writing assignment for the students. Perhaps the newspaper article assignment. (Walking Tour of Lancaster, Columbia) Culminating Project Options: 1) Newspaper editorial (Letter to the Editor, column, etc.) 2) Video Documentary 3) Political Debate (Role Play) 4) History Day Project - create a memorial statue for one of Hbg's stories. 5) Hypertext Essay 6) Website of all the Harrisburg information Rubrics/Scoring Guides: Attachments: Smith, Rutherford, Blockson Articles Newspaper Articles John Harris Images Lecture Notes