The Underground Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

The Underground Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Coming to Columbia!

Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1862, President Lincoln signs a bill abolishing slavery in federal ...
06/19/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1862, President Lincoln signs a bill abolishing slavery in federal territories.
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Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1838, Maryland Jesuits sell 272 enslaved people to Louisiana plante...
06/19/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1838, Maryland Jesuits sell 272 enslaved people to Louisiana planters in one of the largest transactions of its kind in American history. The sale is considered scandalous by Catholics in Maryland and Virginia. Father Thomas Mulledy, who engineered the sale, later becomes president of Georgetown and a founder of Holy Cross College. Both schools will remove his name from campus buildings in the 2010s.
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Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1865, the Union Army enforces the Emancipation Proclamation in Texa...
06/19/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1865, the Union Army enforces the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas—three weeks after Confederate forces surrender their final command in Galveston. Texas, with more than a quarter-million enslaved people, was the most remote part of the Confederacy; many Southern planters brought their slaves there to keep them out of the hands of the advancing Union Army. In 2021, more than 150 years later, Juneteenth was proclaimed a federal holiday.
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Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1856, Samuel Smith, the Virginia abolitionist who packed and mailed...
06/18/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1856, Samuel Smith, the Virginia abolitionist who packed and mailed Henry “Box” Brown to Philadelphia in 1849, is released from prison after serving more than six years behind bars for his actions. Smith had been critical of his Underground Railroad partners in Philadelphia for publicizing Box Brown, which alerted authorities to this creative means of moving freedom seekers north.
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Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1833, more than 400 citizens of Detroit descend on the city jail to...
06/17/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1833, more than 400 citizens of Detroit descend on the city jail to free Thornton Blackburn, a freedom seeker who had lived in the city for two years after escaping from Kentucky with his wife, Lucie. After a judge ruled that the couple must be returned, Lucie received a visit from the wives of Baptist ministers, who switched clothes with her, enabling her to escape. Thornton is liberated after the sheriff receives a fatal beating and then outraces his pursuers to the Detroit River, where he successfully crosses to join his wife and become leaders of Canada’s anti-slavery movement.
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Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1775, Peter Salem, an enslaved person months earlier, is among the ...
06/17/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1775, Peter Salem, an enslaved person months earlier, is among the heroes at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he is credited with delivering the musket ball that finishes British commander John Pitcairn. Salem was freed by his Massachusetts master in order to join the militia—and will serve as a soldier for five years. He will participate in two more American victories, at Saratoga and Stony Point. He previously fought in the famous battle at Concord.
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Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1858, Abraham Lincoln addresses the Illinois Republican Convention ...
06/16/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1858, Abraham Lincoln addresses the Illinois Republican Convention and delivers his “House Divided” speech. Its radical nature will cost him a seat in the US Senate, but propel him one step closer to the White House. “A house divided against itself cannot stand, Lincoln tells more than 1,000 of his colleagues. “I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half-slave and half-free.’
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Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1703, William Penn sells a large parcel of land on the Pennsylvania...
06/15/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1703, William Penn sells a large parcel of land on the Pennsylvania-Delaware border to Benjamin Mendenhall. His descendant, Isaac Mendenhall—along with his wife Dinah—turn the stone farmhouse into a station on the Underground Railroad. For 35 years, they use a secret room behind a fireplace to hide freedom seekers. In 1862, Dinah was a member of the abolitionist committee that met with Abraham Lincoln to push him toward enacting the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1864, Congress passes a bill equalizing pay and supplies for white ...
06/15/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1864, Congress passes a bill equalizing pay and supplies for white and black troops.
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Today in Underground Railroad History…On this day in 1789, Josiah Henson is born into slavery in Maryland. He will becom...
06/15/2026

Today in Underground Railroad History…
On this day in 1789, Josiah Henson is born into slavery in Maryland. He will become a minister and plantation manager, and later aid freedom seekers—though never attempting to escape himself. Henson intended to wait and buy his freedom, but after he raised the funds his owners reneged and, in 1830, he escaped to Canada. Henson claimed to be the model for the title character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
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Address

331 Locust Street
Columbia, PA
17512

Telephone

+17174613491

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