The Other Underground Railroad

 

#86 October 20:  This comes under the heading "Things I'm Ashamed I Didn't Know Already!" I firmly believe that every month should be Black History Month and I also admit that my education is lacking when I read in the paper today about something I hadn’t thought about with the Underground Railroad.  While most slaves escaped to the North by walking from safe house to safe house, as many as 100,000 escaped by sea, the very mode of transportation that helped enslave them.  Perhaps the most famous slave to use the Maritime Underground Railroad was Ona Judge, one of George Washington’s slaves.  He would bring her with him from Virginia to the then capital Philadelphia and she boarded the “wrong” ship on her return from PA to VA.  She lived out her life in New Hampshire and refused to name the captain of the ship until after his death for fear of reprisals.  Many slaves tried to sail to New Bedford, MA as it adopted abolition in 1784.  It was called the “Fugitive’s Gibraltar”. 10/22 

I think I have some reading to do!