As Juneteenth approaches, the Kennett Underground Railroad Center seeks to educate the community on Kennett’s history with the abolitionist movement, writes Madeleine Wright for CBS News Philadelphia.
Historic buildings throughout Kennett Square served as stops along the Underground Railroad. The community as a whole was a vital space for abolitionist work throughout the nineteenth century.
Currently, the center works to preserve Kennett’s history through education and tours.
It is housed at a Quaker meetinghouse where important abolitionist figures met, including Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass.
Now, the center looks to move to a bigger location. They are eyeing The Pines, the home of abolitionist Bartholomew Fussell.
The center organizes bus tours of Underground Railroad stops throughout Chester County. Tours educate participants on the lived experiences and risks faced by enslaved Black people and abolitionists working along the Railroad.
Crystal Crampton, president of the center, shared how important it is to understand Kennett’s history. Crampton explained the importance of honoring the incredible bravery within the emancipation movement.
Crampton said, “You kind of got to know your history, to go to your future, to know what you’re going to do, what you’re going to be about.”
Read more about the Kennett Underground Railroad Center and the center’s educational work in CBS News Philadelphia.
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