Any element nominated to the Network must have an association to the Underground Railroad. The association of a site to the Underground Railroad must be documented in a verifiable way using professional methods of historical research. As applicable, documentation of Underground Railroad association will include the identification of the type of Underground Railroad activity, the period of significance, significant personalities, cultural or ethnic identities of the associated personalities, and source materials.

In many cases, the record of historic Underground Railroad activity at a site is fragmentary. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to use a variety of sources to document association. Bear in mind, however, that evidence must be corroborative, verifiable, and able to withstand professional scrutiny. There is a growing bibliography on the practice of documenting Underground Railroad sites. For assistance, applicants should turn to Exploring a Common Past: Researching and Interpreting the Underground Railroad, 2nd Edition (Washington, DC: National Park Service, 1998); Eleanor O’Donnell, Researching a Historic Property, National Register Bulletin (Washington, DC: National Park Service, 1998); and Guidelines for Completing National Register of Historic Places Forms, National Register Bulletin No. 16a (Washington, DC, 1997).

In the case of National Park Service sites and programs with an Underground Railroad association, the Secretary of the Interior, or his delegate, will nominate and approve them for inclusion in the Network. Sites on, or determined eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, that have a documented association to the Underground Railroad, will also be eligible for the Network. A site ineligible for the National Register, for whatever reason, or a site without a determination of eligibility, may be eligible for the Network if it has a demonstrated and verified association to the Underground Railroad, and it has some form of interpretation at the site that identifies it by association and context.

What constitutes eligibility

Interpretation at a site that lacks integrity for eligibility to the National Register can take many forms. It can range from a full interpretive program with skilled guides or interpretive waysides, to a single wayside exhibit or plaque. At a minimum, the site must be identified by name and a context statement must be provided to the public, preferably on-site. Sites on the National Register of Historic Places are not required to have an interpretive component if they are applying for inclusion in the Network, although they are encouraged to develop one if it does not already exist. The rationale is that sites on the National Register of Historic Places are still able to convey their significance because they possess most of the important aspects of integrity, such as a sense of feeling, association, location, workmanship, materials, setting, and design.

Any site, facility, or program that applies for inclusion in the Network must have the support of the owner, manager, or director. Public-owned properties must also have support from the site manager. A letter of property owner support must accompany the nomination of any site not owned by the National Park Service or the federal government.

In addition to demonstrating an association to the Underground Railroad and owner or manager support, facilities and programs nominated to the Network must demonstrate that the nominated element exceeds a minimum level of

professionalism,
accuracy,
operation, and
accessibility.

Other requirements

All facilities and programs must also be in operation and not solely in the planning stages. To this end, they must be able to demonstrate a past and ongoing commitment to interpreting or studying the Underground Railroad. The National Park Service recognizes that many facilities and programs around the country operate on a volunteer basis or rely on scarce resources. Therefore the criteria, while meant to establish a certain level of legitimacy, accountability, and accuracy to telling the Underground Railroad story, are also designed to be inclusive and subjective so that as wide a range of elements are eligible for inclusion as possible.

For example, facilities such as libraries, archives, and museums, must demonstrate a willingness to share information and be accessible to the public and researchers. Basic professional standards that museums, archives, and libraries should meet are

a catalog system for their collections in the form, for example, of a finding aid or index for collections, and
an ability to demonstrate the provenance, or origin, authenticity, and acquisition history of their collections.

Research centers are often associated with these types of facilities and programs. If the element is applying for inclusion as a research center, it should also be able to demonstrate that

the center director or key staff members have an appropriate level of training, which is usually recognized as at least having earned a Masters degree in an associated field of study, and
a record of operations through a measurable output, such as a past and ongoing production of a journal or reports.

In addition to demonstrating an association to the Underground Railroad and program director support, programs that are interpretive or educational in nature must show

that they are recurring or have a record of operations,
accuracy in presentation,
a record of consultation with appropriate partners, and community or regional support, and
a system established for the evaluation of the program’s effectiveness.

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