Follow the Drinking Gourd

A Journey on the Underground Railroad

The Underground RailroadThe Underground Railroad

Your body, your time, your very breath belong to a farmer in 1850s Alabama. You have never tasted freedom. And yet your soul lights up when you hear whispers of attempted escape. Freedom means a hard, dangerous trek. Are you ready?

The Underground Railroad Moses” is coming! You’ve

heard the stories about her. She is Harriet Tubman, a former slave who ran away from a nearby plantation in 1849 but returns to rescue others. Even if Moses can’t fit you into her next group, she’ll tell you how to follow the North Star to freedom in Canada. Just follow the big drinking gourd (the big dipper) to the North Star. It will set you free!

The Underground Railroad

You decide to run! You hide during the day, and run at night. After 3 weeks of running and hiding, You are tired. You hear of an Underground Railroad Station in Newport, Indiana. It is run by conductor Levi Coffin who is a Quaker. Levi Coffin Home in Fountain City, IN

The Underground Railroad

Levi Coffin is an abolitionist. An abolitionist is someone who wants to abolish, or do away with slavery. You come in the dead of night in a wagon with a hidden compartment.

Wagon with hidden compartment.

The Underground Railroad

You come in the basement kitchen door. Aunt Katie, Levi’s wife, meets you at the door and gets you something to eat.

Basement kitchen in Coffin home.

The Underground Railroad

As you make your way upstairs you see the underground well. This puzzles you. Most wells are outside. Levi explains that the Coffins had the well put inside so people would not know how much water they used for their “special guests.”

Well in basement of Coffin home.

The Underground Railroad

The next room you come to is the upstairs kitchen. Aunt Katie pours you a warm bath. It feels good to have a bath and clean clothes. It eases some of your fear.

Upstairs kitchen in Coffin home.

The Underground Railroad

A warm welcome and kindness—that’s what you find inside the house. Guided by their conscience, the Coffins break the law by helping you. Yet terror still haunts you. As you fall asleep you hear bloodhounds not far away. They are looking for fugitives, looking for you. Levi says you are safe. If the slave catchers come, you are to hide in the small room behind the bed. Hidden door in upstairs bedroom.

The Underground Railroad

In the morning, the world looks a little brighter. Levi and his wife Catherine meet with you in the downstairs parlor after breakfast. You plan your journey to the next station on the underground railroad. Time is running out. The slave catchers are coming! Coffin living room. The crib was made by a slave.

The Underground Railroad

That night, under the cover of darkness, you journey to the next station on the Underground Railroad on Levi Coffin’s buggy. You will never forget the gentle Quaker man and his wife. You know now that you will make it to freedom!

Buggy of Levi Coffin.

The Underground Railroad

Levi Coffin and his wife, Catherine Coffin, helped nearly 3,000 slaves escape to freedom in Canada. Levi left Newport and moved to Cincinnati in 1847. He and Katie are buried there.