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: Sketch done by Henry Howe of Western Reserve College located in Hudson, Ohio. It opened in 1826 and became an important center for anti-slavery sentiment in Ohio. Western Reserve College was closely affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The school fell on hard times, and thanks to a generous donation by Amasa Stone in 1892 it was relocated to Cleveland. The former site is now home to Western Reserve Academy. Image taken from "Historical Collections of Ohio" by Henry Howe, 1847. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04055
Subjects: Cultural Ohio--Education; Universities and colleges--Pictorial works; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century
Places: Hudson (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: Home of abolitionist John Rankin in Ripley, Ohio, ca. 1950-1970. The house, built in 1828, sits on a hill overlooking the Ohio River and served as an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Rankin and his wife Jane (identified in some later records as Jean) worked with their neighbors to assist thousands of slaves to escape to freedom. The house was purchased by the state of Ohio in 1938 and ten years later the Ohio Historical Society opened the refurbished site to the public. It is now a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01027
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Other--Ohio Historical Society; Abolitionists -- Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)
 

Description: Portrait of Lyman Beecher, born in 1775, in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale College in 1797 and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1799. Beecher served as the president of Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati from 1832 to 1850. Beecher was the father of two prominent anti-slavery advocates, Harriet Beech Stowe, the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and Henry Ward Beecher, a firebrand preacher who sent guns to "Bleeding Kansas" and equipped Union regiments during the American Civil War. Lyman Beecher died in 1863. The portrait is taken from "Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio," 1907. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04100
Subjects: Lane Theological Seminary (Cincinnati, Ohio); Multicultural Ohio--Religion in Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896;
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio);
 

Description: The Friends Yearly Meeting House in Mt. Pleasant, Ohio. The presence of the Society of Friends (known colloquially as Quakers) in Ohio dates back over 200 years. The denomination became well-known for their strict disapproval of slavery in addition to their belief in pacifism. They were also known for their assistance of fugitive fleeing their owners in the slave states, and their respect for American Indians. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06838
Subjects: Quakers; Religion in Ohio; Abolitionists -- Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century
Places: Mount Pleasant (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: Rhoda Jones standing outside her cabin with her dog near Ripley, Ohio, in May 1910. At this time, Jones was the oldest surviving resident of Africa, a settlement of free African Americans established on a hillside above Ripley; she was actively involved in the Underground Railroad assisting slaves to escape to freedom once they crossed from Kentucky into Ohio across the Ohio River. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01169
Subjects: African American women; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Former slaves;
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a house that was once used as a station on the Underground Railroad. The description on the back of the photograph reads: "Another of the Winder stations in North Lewisburg." The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and hiding places that helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom in the northern United States or across the border in Canada. Thomas Winder, a Quaker, was an operator who helped escaped slaves in the North Lewisburg area of eastern Central Ohio, along with other members of his family. Quakers were strongly opposed to slavery and offered help to slaves seeking their freedom as early as the late 1700s. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC1338_003_001
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Quakers; Abolitionists; African Americans--History; Houses; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century;
Places: North Lewisburg (Ohio); Champaign 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: Photograph showing an unidentified ex-slave who poses at the start of the trail used by fugitive slaves on their way to the John Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio. The Rankin House was a stop on the Underground Railroad operated by John Rankin, a Presbyterian minister. From his home on top of Liberty Hill, Rankin would signal to fugitive slaves when it was safe to cross the Ohio River. After crossing the river from Kentucky, those seeking freedom then climbed 100 wooden steps to the house, where they were given shelter and food before continuing their journey to Canada. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC_92_004
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Former slaves;
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows the "Freedom Stairway," the 100 steps leading down from the Rankin House toward the Ohio River. The John Rankin House in Ripley was a station on the Underground Railroad. It is unlikely that the stairs in this photograph pre-date the early 1900s, but until documentation is found supporting the existence of the stairs in the pre-Civil War years, they can still serve as a reminder of the perilous journey of the fugitive slave and the welcome to be found at the top of the hill. John Rankin (1793-1886) was a Presbyterian minister and educator who devoted much of his life to the antislavery movement. He is credited with helping 2,000 slaves escape to freedom. It has been said that a light was placed in the window of his house to indicate when it was safe for slaves to approach. The character of Eliza in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was reportedly inspired by a story of a woman who crossed the partially-frozen Ohio River with a baby in her arms, making it safely to Rankin's house. The John Rankin House is now a museum, part of the Ohio History Connection's statewide network of historic sites. The current steps were put in place in the 1990s. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01171
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Civil Liberties; Rankin House; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a group of unidentified African Americans of various ages, posed outside of a home in Ripley, Ohio. They may be residents of small community known as Africa, which was a settlement of free African Americans established on a hillside above Ripley. 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: SC_92_007
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; African American Ohioans
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing Thomas L. Gray standing in front of his house that was once used as a station on the Underground Railroad. The handwritten caption at the bottom reads: "Thomas L. Gray and His House at Deavertown, Morgan County, Ohio, a station on the Underground Railroad." Born in 1815, Gray earned his living as a harness maker in Deavertown. Besides his economic pursuits, Gray was also active as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. It is believed that Gray helped as many as 500 fugitive slaves in gaining their freedom. His home served as a safe house for former slaves who had crossed the Ohio River between Marietta and Portsmouth. Upon leaving Gray's home, most fugitives then made their way to Zanesville. Gray remained an active conductor on the Underground Railroad until slavery's demise with the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865. During the American Civil War, Gray also warned his neighbors of General John Hunt Morgan's approach, giving his neighbors time to hide their horses and valuables. Gray died in 1899. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC1338_007_001
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Abolitionists; African Americans--History; Houses; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century;
Places: Deavertown (Ohio); Morgan County (Ohio)