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BCPL Local History Department becomes part of National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom


Boone County Public Library has announced its Local History Department’s inclusion in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Photo: Boone County Public Library’s Local History Department, L to R: Rosie Carpenter, Robin Edwards, Bridget Striker, Kaitlin Barber, Hilary Delaney (provided)

The Library’s bus tour will be included on the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom website.

Additionally, the library’s Local History Department has been accepted into the program as an Underground Railroad research facility, joining over 100 facilities, sites and programs across 25 states, including the District of Columbia and the U.S.  Virgin Islands.

According to Diane Miller, National Program Manager for National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, “We found that it (Local History’s Underground Railroad Bus Tour) makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the Underground Railroad in American history.”

In recent years, the Library’s Local History Department has dedicated itself to uncovering Boone County’s role in the Underground Railroad.  Long-forgotten stories of enslavement and freedom, involving the county and the surrounding region, have emerged and are being offered to the public in the form of programs, tours and research materials.

Each year, the Local History Department offers Underground Railroad bus tours through Boone County, revealing the experiences of those once enslaved in the county, and their quests for freedom from bondage.

The library’s next Underground Railroad Boone County bus tour will be offered on Wednesday, September 20, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There is a $40 fee to cover the cost of the bus and lunch. Registration is required and opens August 14.  Go to www.bcpl.org/events, scroll to “Browse Events by Location” and choose Main Library. Or call 859-342-BOOK (2665).

The Boone County Public Library will celebrate its inclusion in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom with a reception at the Main Library, 1786 Burlington Pike in Burlington, September 19, at 6:30 p.m.

Following the reception, there will be a presentation of “The Barkshire and Hawkins Families of Rising Sun, Indiana; A Borderlands Story” at 7 p.m.

In 1836, newly-freed Samuel Barkshire and his family left enslavement behind in Boone County, moving across the Ohio River to Rising Sun, Indiana.  Once there, they played a pivotal role in the Underground Railroad, with the help of Nancy Hawkins, their one-time slaveholder.

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