For years, the Underground Railroad has been portrayed in history textbooks as a secret operation by former slaves and abolitionists to help blacks escape slavery.

But 150 years ago, abolitionists running the Central New York section of the Underground Railroad were open about their efforts.

Syracuse and Boston were the most openly abolitionist cities in the country in the 1850s, according to author Fergus Bordewich, who recently wrote a comprehensive history of the Underground Railroad.

The Rev. Jermain Loguen - an escaped slave who was called the "Underground Railroad King" - placed notices in Syracuse newspapers announcing that he was the stationmaster in Syracuse, and that all runaway slaves could find sanctuary at his home in the 1400 block of East Genesee Street.

The 1851 rescue of fugitive slave William "Jerry" Henry in Syracuse - which Loguen and two dozen other men planned - ranks among the most defiant anti-slavery acts in America before the Civil War.

And therein lies a paradox.

Because few Central New York sites relevant to the Underground Railroad and abolitionist movement were preserved, the region's Underground Railroad history remains a secret.

But change is coming.

There's a surge of interest in the Underground Railroad. New York is offering grants to help turn related sites into tourist attractions. Researchers are digging through Census records, old letters and other documents to identify sites and learn more about the region's early black residents. And efforts are under way in Syracuse to install historic markers at locations that were significant to the Underground Railroad and the abolitionist movement.



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History in hiding

Drive through Central New York - which was a crossroads for freedom seekers heading north to Oswego and boats to Canada or west to Buffalo to reach Canada - and you will find scant evidence that the Underground Railroad existed here at all.

Syracuse does not have a single historic marker to help keep the railroad's legacy alive, said Dennis Connors, Onondaga Historical Association curator.

Some sites have long since been replaced by other structures.

A Rite Aid pharmacy stands on the site where Loguen sheltered freedom-seekers in his East Genesee Street home.

The jail that Syracuse residents stormed to free William "Jerry" Henry is a paved parking lot today.

Another Rite Aid stands on Butternut Street where Enoch Reed - a black man who was the only person convicted of participating in the Jerry Rescue - once lived.

Until 1990 when the Jerry Rescue monument was put in Clinton Square - the monument contains the sculpted faces of Jerry, Loguen and the Rev. Samuel May - there was no permanent exhibit in Syracuse to tell visitors about that event.

The James Street home of May, the Unitarian abolitionist who helped plan the Jerry Rescue, was torn down around 1870.

"We have been very efficient in tearing down most of the structures in Syracuse that had significance to the Underground Railroad, " Connors said. "We really eradicated most of the early African-American sites in Syracuse through urban renewal. So little physically tangible evidence is left to a very emotional story."

The Peterboro home of wealthy abolitionist Gerrit Smith is history - burned in a fire.

The Oswego farmhouse and barn where Edwin and Charlotte Clarke hid an estimated 125 runaway slaves has been gone since 1863.

Some structures survived.

The Auburn home of former slave Harriet Tubman, for example, who made 19 trips into the South to help other freedom-seekers escape bondage, is open for tours.

Underground Railroad sites generally were not recognized by communities as cultural treasures and potential tourist attractions, said Milton Sernett, a Syracuse University professor who wrote "North Star Country, " a book about Upstate New York's involvement in anti-slavery efforts.

"The interest in the Underground Railroad until recently was pretty minimal, " Sernett said.

But the climate is changing.

Preservation grants available

This spring, New York State plans to award up to $1.4 million to improve sites linked to the Underground Railroad or museums that host permanent exhibits about the Underground Railroad, said Cordell Reaves, coordinator of the state's Underground Railroad Heritage Trail.

Central New York is home to 10 of the 24 sites eligible to apply for the state Underground Railroad Heritage Trail grants of up to $100,000. The applications are due Monday. Sites will have to be open to the public to qualify for the grants.

"Our mandate is to create tourist destinations, " Reaves said.

The Harriet Tubman Home Inc. in Auburn - which owns the Tubman house - plans to apply for a Heritage Trail grant, said the Rev. Paul Carter.

Other efforts to commemorate the Underground Railroad are also under way.

Using $20,000 pledged by the Syracuse Common Council, the Preservation Association of Central New York hopes by June to erect about a dozen signs in Syracuse at sites where important events occurred in the Underground Railroad story, said Sam Gruber, the association's president.

The preservation association hopes to put three larger markers near the Jerry Rescue site, at Rose Hill Cemetery, where many early black residents were buried, and near the Loguen house site at Genesee and Pine streets.

In Oswego County, the Mexico Historical Association hopes to use a state grant this year to purchase a tin shop where abolitionist Starr Clark hid fugitive slaves.

Saving it all

In 2003, the Onondaga Historical Association opened a permanent exhibit about the Underground Railroad called "Freedom Bound." The association plans to apply to the state for a Heritage Trail grant to help it become a regional Underground Railroad interpretive center and pay for new displays for the exhibit.

"We already have what the state recognizes as the best Underground Railroad exhibit in the state, " said Connors.

Scholars are increasing efforts to uncover new information about Central New Yorkers who fought against slavery.

Retired State University College at Oswego professor Judy Wellman has been digging through Census records to uncover more stories about blacks in Central New York who were involved in the anti-slavery efforts.

Wellman and Volney town historian George Wise recently pieced together the story of James Watkins Seward - a free black man from Oswego County who was accused of being a runaway slave and jailed in New Orleans.

Wellman - who researched Underground Railroad sites in Oswego and Onondaga counties - is working with Cayuga County residents now to document that area's Underground Railroad activity.

"There's much, much more waiting to be discovered, " Bordewich said. "The greatest Underground Railroad stories are local ones because it was a grass-roots movement. It wasn't a top-down movement. Where it existed, the most important Underground Railroad stories lie embedded in local history archives and probably family diaries."

This story is part of The Post-Standard's 2005 observance of Black History Month. The series, "Stops on the Road to Freedom," tells a story a day about sites and people in Central New York that played a significant role in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad. Last year: The Post-Standard series, On the Front Lines of History, told a story a day about local blacks' military service.