The designation recognizes different sites throughout the country as being significant to the movement to free slaves.
Wanda McLean of Elizabeth City spoke to the Halifax County Genealogical Society today about the program, of which North Carolina has the most sites in the Southeast.
A look at historical markers in the area tells the story, she said. “The Roanoke River valley was full of plantations. There were hundreds and hundreds of plantations along the river. If you see a plantation you can bet there was an underground railroad.”
The Roanoke River joins the Northampton County burial site of Henry and Dorothy Copeland as a site important to the freeing of slaves.
The Copelands were Quakers and members of the Rich Square Meeting House, where some 300 slaves were helped to freedom, said Monica Moody, of the Historic Halifax Site.
Historic Halifax needs $900 to buy a series of signs which will note the significance of the river to the underground railroad, Moody said.
Total cost of the signs, which will be placed along River Road at the historic site, is $2,894. The Halifax County Convention and Visitors Bureau has pledged to fund half and Historic Halifax received a $500 donation last week, Moody said.
With the Roanoke River receiving its designation in 2008, McLean is working to find documentation on Historic Halifax’s role in the underground railroad.
“I’m looking for stories involving Halifax,” she said. “There were so many freed blacks in Halifax and Northampton counties.”
There were 2,079 freed slaves in Halifax County, Moody noted.
Gary Grant of Tillery, asked McLean if the project doesn’t whitewash slavery. “It lifts some burden that it wasn’t that bad. If we have a history, it needs to be a complete history. There were some harrowing stories of slaves at Tillery.”
McLean explained the National Park Service’s goal. “The National Park Service wants to put emphasis on the escapes. They don’t want to put emphasis on the cruelty.”
For more information on the program visit www.nps.gov/ugrr
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