Museum - Education
Special Topic Programs
Escape to Freedom - The Underground Railroad in Michigan
Pre-Tour Activity
Introduce students to the peculiar language of the Underground Railroad before your visit and watch their eyes light up as they contemplate the danger of the fugitives’ journey to freedom.
Partly because of the need for secrecy and partly because of the need for a language for communication and action, the Underground Railroad network had its own language. Some of the words below belong to the context of slavery; others served the specific needs of the Underground Railroad.
Contact Information
Museum Educator
(269) 782-1334
museum@swmich.edu
Vocabulary
| Abolitionist | A person who was against slavery. |
| Agent | A person who helped fugitives know where to go and who would help them. |
| Civil Disobedience | Unlawful behavior with good intentions. |
| Conductor | A person who took slaves along the path to freedom. |
| Drinking Gourd – The North Star | Fugitives followed it on their way north. |
| Freedom-seeker | A person seeking freedom on the railroad. |
| Fugitive | A person who is running from a situation, possibly punishment. |
| Jordan River | The Ohio River (the geographical divide between free and slave states). |
| Promised Land | Canada, which symbolized the land of freedom for fugitives. |
| Quakers | A religious group founded in England. It is also referred to as the Society of Friends. Some, but not all, Quakers were against slavery. |
| Station | Safe houses, churches, or any place of safety along the route to freedom. |
| Stockholders | People who contributed money for the operation of the railroad. |
| Passenger | A runaway slave, also called a Freedom Seeker. Passengers were also referred to as cargo or packages. |
