A symposium on the Underground Railroad featuring scholars and special programming that explores the complex network of secret routes, safe houses and courageous and caring people is scheduled for this spring in New Bern.
“Pathways to Freedom: The Underground Railroad” is set for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 21, in Tryon Palace’s Cullman Performance Hall at the North Carolina History Center.
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Registration for the event is $5 plus tax and includes lunch. Space is limited. To register, call 252 639-3524, or purchase a ticket at the North Carolina History Center ticket desk at 529 S. Front St. in new Bern.
The Underground Railroad is a term describing efforts of enslaved African Americans to escape bondage.
Speakers and panelists will review what is known and unknown about the Underground Railroad, both nationally and more specifically in eastern North Carolina.
The agenda includes a film presentation, academic speakers, a performance of “Songs of Freedom about the Underground Railroad” by the Craven Community College Choir and three panel sessions. Panel sessions include the following: The First Underground Railroad in North America; The Second and Last Underground Railroads, 1800–1865; and Legacies of America’s Underground Railroads.
Dr. Timothy D. Walker, professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, is the keynote speaker. Walker serves on the executive board of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture. The Tryon Palace African American Advisory Committee has assisted with the presentation of the symposium.
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“The executive director, staff and planners at Tryon Palace are to be commended for offering the public this full view of this country’s popularly named Underground Railroad.” Dr. David C. Dennard, Chairman, Tryon Palace African American Advisory Committee, said in a statement.
For more information, contact Sharon Bryant, African American outreach coordinator, at 252 639-3592, or sharon.bryant@ncdcr.gov.
