Underground Railroad tour to visit Columbia, Lancaster, Drumore, Christiana

Recently uncovered information about Underground Railroad activity in Lancaster County will be brought to life on a July 20 field trip sponsored by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society.

Norma Grace and Ronald Strawbridge will lead an excursion to historic sites, complete with dramatic presentations and historical lessons.

In Columbia the group will "meet" Robert Loney, whose family was among the first to be freed in the early 1800s and begin Columbia's free black community. Loney worked with Quaker abolitionist William Wright and ferried hundreds of escaping slaves across the Susquehanna and assisted with the work of Quaker activist William Wright.

Historian Randolph Harris will talk about the role of Thaddeus Stevens and his housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith, at the newly restored site of Stevens' office, now part of the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster.

Participants will then visit the Drumore Quaker Meetinghouse and see the homestead of "switchturner" Joseph Smith, who hid escapees in his barn. Stories will illustrate how the use of railroad terms and other coding helped provide secrecy for the network of persons assisting runaways.

At Christiana's Underground Railroad Visitor Center, historians "Bud" Rettew and Nancy Plumley will detail the story of the Christiana Resistance of 1851. This cataclysmic event helped further polarize the nation in the years leading up to the Civil War.

Capping the tour will be a "soul food" meal and dramatic presentation of "From the Slave House to the White House," on the moral and spiritual odyssey of Sojourner Truth.

Cindy A. Strawbridge, playwright, says this theatrical work "meant to inform, instruct, and inspire its audience to learn the true meaning of determination, perseverance, and triumph."

Reservations will be accepted on a first-come basis. The cost is $90 for Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society members and $100 per non-members.

Call 393-9745 for more information. The motor coach will load promptly at 8 a.m. at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society headquarters, 2215 Millstream Road, and return about 4:30 p.m.

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