A Tribute to Freedom
Visit Susan Schultz' underground
railroad tribute at Facer Park on
Shoreline Drive in Sandusky.  The
sculpture is a life-sized statue of a
man, his wife, and his child escaping
the chains of slavery on the path to
freedom.
Title: Fugitives and Freedom Houses in Sandusky Image: Sloane House The Underground Railroad was a secret network of safe houses, including the Sloane House. For many slaves, escaping meant traveling alone on foot at night following the North Star.
Title: African American Conductors Image: Thomas Boston Before 1840 most of Sandusky’s Underground Railroad conductors were black men, including the Reverend Thomas Boston and Grant Ritchie, a barber.
Title: The African American Community Image: Second Baptist Church In 1849 four women and three men, all of whom were former slaves or freeborn blacks, founded what is now Second Baptist Church, an active station for sheltering freedom-bound slaves.
Title: Attorneys Image: Parish; Sloane After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, anyone found guilty of harboring or assisting runaways could be fined or imprisoned. Attorneys Rush Sloane and Francis Parish were both fined large sums.
Employers and Fugitive Workers Image: Keech Christopher Columbus Keech, who owned a hat factory, and Henry Merry, a builder, employed fugitives while they were waiting for the opportunity to escape to Canada.
Title: Ship Captains and Their Crews Image: The ARROW Sympathetic captains helped slaves escape from Sandusky docks to Canada on sailing ships and steamboats, including the wooden sidewheel steamboat ARROW, built in 1848.
Title: Narrating the History Image: Henson In his autobiography, fugitive and conductor Josiah Henson wrote: “We were welcomed on board, with three hearty cheers; for the crew were as much pleased as the captain, with the help they were giving us to escape.”
Title: Sandusky and the Underground Railroad Image: Ohio Underground Railroad Route Map Including Sandusky The people of Sandusky, both black and white, made this city a major stop on the long journey to liberty known as the Underground Railroad.
SUREC's role in the Underground Railroad Park project
was to research, adapt, and write the text for the pedestals
that surround the sculpture.  We also researched and
provided the illustrations, including two drawings by one of
our members.  

The theme we chose for the pedestals is: The Sandusky
Underground Railroad Story.  While the sculpture is a
symbolic representation, the pedestals attempt to capture
the history of the actual men and women, both black and
white, all of whom wrote Sandusky’s Underground Railroad
history through their courageous actions.  The pedestals
represent the roles of the fugitives, the African American
community, attorneys, ship captains and their crews, and
others.  The creative collaboration between both black and
white Sanduskians is a central part of this history.
Sandusky Underground Railroad Education Center