Description: Photomechanical reproduction of a portrait of John Dole, an employee of the Anti-Slavery League. Dole was first located at Cairo, Illinois, then at Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana. He superintended logging camps in Kentucky and ran off slaves through Indiana. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03024
Subjects: Siebert, Wilbur Henry, 1866-1961; Abolitionists--Illinois--History--19th century; Anti-Slavery League
Places: Evansville (Indiana); Vanderburgh County (Indiana)
 

Description: Moral Map from the Legion of Liberty and the Force of Truth. The Ohio River was the recognized border between slavery and free states. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07943
Subjects: Maps; Slavery; Anti-Slavery--19th Century
 

Description: This is a photograph of West Middletown, Pennsylvania. The town was a noted station on the Underground Railroad and a hotbed of abolitionists in Washington County, Pennsylvania. It still has a large African American population. This photograph was taken by Earle R. Forrest. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03226
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Pennsylvania; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Anti-Slavery--19th Century
Places: West Middletown (Pennsylvania); Washington County (Pennsylvania)
 

Description: Benjamin Lundy (1789-1839) was an abolitionist who settled in St. Clairsville, Ohio, in 1815, and later in Steubenville (1822). Raised as a Quaker in the Society of Friends, he was taught to treat all peoples as equal and moved around the country pushing his abolitionist ideas. Often he was not widely accepted and was forced to move, and in Baltimore he was once nearly beaten to death. He published his own anti-slavery gazette titled "The Genius of Universal Emancipation." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03994
Subjects: Abolitionists; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century
Places: St. Clairsville (Ohio); Belmont County (Ohio); Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a formal portrait of Professor Wilbur H. Siebert, ca. 1915-1925. Siebert (1866-1961) was a professor of history at the Ohio Sate University, 1891-1935. In the 1890s Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad with his students. He chose the topic because he thought it would spark the students' interest. In 1898 Siebert's first book on the anti-slavery movement, "The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom," was published. The extensive documentation of Siebert's research, with the help of his students, is housed in the archives of the Ohio History Connection. In 1935, he retired and assumed the position of professor emeritus, which he held until his death at age 95 on September 2, 1961. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02741
Subjects: Siebert, Wilbur Henry, 1866-1961; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph depicts M. M. Murphy, a conductor for the Underground Railroad and the last of the Ripley Flat-boat men, sitting outside of the Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio. The house was owned by John Rankin, a Presbyterian minister. Up until the American Civil War, Rankin dedicated his life to abolishing slavery. After spending several years as a minister and abolitionist in Kentucky, he moved to Ripley to continue his anti-slavery work. He most likely moved into this home in 1825, where he continued to serve as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Rankin's home stood on a 300-foot-high hill, known as "Liberty Hill," which overlooked the Ohio River. Rankin would signal fugitive slaves in Kentucky with a lantern or candle, letting them know when it was safe for them to cross the Ohio River. To access Rankin's home on top of Liberty Hill, those seeking their freedom had to climb 100 wooden steps. Rankin would provide the fugitive slaves with sanctuary, keeping them hidden until it was safe for them to travel. Rankin is believed to have provided shelter and food to as many as 2,000 former slaves during his career with the Underground Railroad; according to several accounts, none of those whom Rankin helped were ever returned to slavery. Harriet Beecher Stowe immortalized Rankin's efforts to help African Americans in her book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Rankin's home was the first stop in Ohio for Eliza, one of the book's main characters, as she sought freedom in the North. Today, the Rankin house is home to a museum operated by the Ohio History Connection. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC652_003
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Historic houses; Brown County (Ohio);
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of the house of abolitionist John Rankin of Ripley, Ohio, as it appeared in the early twentieth century. The Rankin House, in Ripley, Ohio, was an Underground Railroad stop run by Presbyterian minister John Rankin with his wife and neighbors. The house stood on a 300-foot-high hill, known as "Liberty Hill," which overlooked the Ohio River. Rankin would signal fugitive slaves in Kentucky with a lantern or candle, letting them know when it was safe to cross the Ohio River. To access Rankin's home on top of Liberty Hill, those seeking their freedom had to climb 100 wooden steps. Rankin would provide the former slaves with sanctuary, keeping them hidden until it was safe for them to travel further north. John Rankin is believed to have provided shelter and food to as many as 2,000 fugitive slaves during his career with the Underground Railroad; according to several accounts, none of those whom Rankin helped were ever returned to slavery. Harriet Beecher Stowe immortalized Rankin's efforts to help African Americans in her book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Rankin's home was the first stop in Ohio for Eliza, one of the book's main characters, as she sought freedom in the North. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02871
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Abolitionists; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Red Oak Presbyterian Church in Red Oak, near Ripley, Ohio. The church was a center of anti-slavery activities in the first half of the 19th century, largely under the guidance of its pastor, Reverend James Gilliland, who served from 1805-1854. Located along the Ohio River in Brown County, the town of Ripley was an active location on the Underground Railroad, followed by fugitive slaves crossing the river from Kentucky on their journey to Canada. Because Ohio was a free state, communities like the one pictured here sprang up as homes for freed and formerly enslaved African Americans and their families. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC651_01
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Religion in Ohio; Churches--Ohio;
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)
 

Description: James Harris Fairchild (1817-1902) harbored fugitive slaves in Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio, while he was president of Oberlin College. This cabinet card is from E. Decker at 143 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03155
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Abolitionists;
Places: Oberlin (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: William Rogers (1817-1898) was involved with the Underground Railroad in Cadiz, Harrison County, Ohio. This cabinet card from 1865 is from Spiker and Haverfield Art Photography. It was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03135
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Abolitionists;
Places: Cadiz (Ohio); Harrison County (Ohio)
 

Description: Mark Campbell McMaken (1800-1899) was an Underground Railroad operator at Hamilton, Ohio, in Butler County. While working on the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, McMaken would provide directions to fugitive slaves along the tracks, directing them safely to John Harris' house in Hamilton, or 15 miles north of Hamilton to a Quaker settlement. McMaken would later serve as a Whig Representative in the Ohio General Assembly. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03111
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Abolitionists;
Places: Hamilton (Ohio); Butler County (Ohio)
 

Description: Woodcut portrait of Francis Drake Parish (1796-1886), a lawyer and Underground Railroad operator from Sandusky, Ohio. This portrait and an accompanying article from the Firelands Pioneer (published in July 1888 by the Firelands Historical Society) were collected by Wilbur H. Siebert as part of his Underground Railroad research. According to the article, Parish was at one time a "bitter enemy of the fugitive slave" who on multiple occasions served as a prosecutor in cases against those seeking their freedom, but later became an abolitionist around 1835. Two fugitive slaves from Kentucky were cared for at Parish's home and protected from arrest by their benefactor in February 1845. Parish subsequently helped the fugitives on their journey. In 1849, the Circuit Court of the U.S. for the District of Ohio fined Parish for the estimated value of the slaves at the time. This sum, together with court costs and legal expenses ($1,250) was paid by friends of Parish, who raised the necessary amount by subscriptions of one dollar each. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P116_B54_V0l4_Parrish
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Abolitionists;
Places: Sandusky (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)