The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was a system of trustworthy people and marked routes used by African-Americans to escape from slavery. Thousands of men, women and children, guided by conductors, traveled on foot or in special vehicles along this network of hiding places or stations. In 1819, John Dimery became the first known passenger to use the route linking Greensboro to Indiana, and his escape was arranged by Quaker Vestal Coffin. Guilford County Quakers had opposed slavery for decades, and many took part in this movement, placing human rights above property rights. Levi Coffin, born at New Garden (Guilford College) in 1789 and moved to Indiana in 1826, also worked for the railroad and is identified as its president. The woods near the New Garden Friends Meetinghouse and Boarding School were known as a railroad station, as were Richard Mendenhall's Inn at Jamestown and Joshua Stanley's house at Centre. Little was written about the Underground Railroad at the time, but the Reminiscences of Levi Coffin describe how fugitives were handled and how the way to freedom was marked.

Greensboro, North Carolina · United States