Tracing the Underground Railroad through Middletown, Connecticut — a study in Black resistance, faith, and freedom.
Click a marker on the map to learn about each stop along the journey to freedom.
This digital project examines Middletown, Connecticut's role in the Underground Railroad as a focal point for Black community life, abolitionist activism, and the movement of freedom seekers northward toward Canada. Drawing on African American history, religious history, and the geography of resistance, the site traces how Middletown functioned as a crucial "way station" on one of the most daring collective acts of resistance in American history.
The three sections of this site move along the railroad's route: from the enslaved communities of the Upper South where the journey began, northward through Middletown, and finally to the Black settlements in Canada where freedom became permanent.
Navigate using the map markers above or the cards below. You can also use the navigation bar at the top of every page.
Understand who freedom seekers were, the conditions they fled, and how Black families and allies began building the networks of the Underground Railroad in the South.
Explore →The heart of this project. Discover how Middletown's Black churches, the Beman family, and abolitionist networks made the city a vital sanctuary and way station on the path to freedom.
Explore →Trace the final leg of the journey: how freedom seekers crossed into Canada, built thriving Black communities, and what their arrival meant for the meaning of liberty.
Explore →