I just finished reading The Underground Railroad Records that were published by William Still. Wow. There are some really powerful letters in the collection. It gave me some real insight into the workings of the underground railroad. There was a lot more going on than I ever thought. Money changing hands. Violence against the "conductors". "Christian wolves" to avoid.

I really enjoyed reading the slice of history. Truly brave people.

I was thinking of moving on to read the slave narratives. Has anybody read these? Thoughts?

I am a member of a small black heritage museum in my hometown which is a suburb of Chicago. About 2 years ago, after some research and investigation and speculation, members of this organization have had verified what they think is a missing link between underground railroad way-stations on a particular itinerary through Illinois to Ohio. It is an old "shot gun" house, a one-story building with a hidden trap door that has been around forever, a place with a colorful background, believed to also have been a hideout for bottleggers during prohibition. It is located very close to the DesPlaines river which runs throughout Illinois and is a tributary to rivers leading to Ohio, an important clue because rivers provided the directions for Harriet Tubman and her "passengers."

It was very exciting to identify this historical connection to the past "right in our own backyard".

BTW, Writergirl, another regular poster, gave a thumbs up to the slave narratives after she read them.

Yep! I read one of the book of slave narratives that came out of Arkansas. Now I think I'll check out those underground railroad records next. Thanks for posting! Hey Cynique! How ya' been?

Hi Writergirl. Doin OK. Still posting my "The Only One" soap opera. See you have a sequel to your book coming out. The boards miss your interesting input, but realize you're probably busy with your own projects.

I've read just about all the narratives and there are also the WPA interviews in the 'thirties where the stories of elderly former slaves were recorded. There's a treasure trove of information about the history of the American South at http://docsouth.unc.edu/

JohnB

Still posting my "The Only One" soap opera. See you have a sequel to your book coming out.

I am so glad to be done with my last project. I am not going to publish it though, but I'm still glad I finished it. Woo Hoo! So I've got my free time back. Now I've got to catch up on my "The Only One" chapters and see what else I've missed on the board.