National Parks of Boston #TakeovertheNetwork

To honor International Underground Railroad Month in 2022, the Network to Freedom Program hosted a social media takeover. Each day, a different Network to Freedom member signed on to #TakeoverTheNetwork and highlight what makes their Underground Railroad story special.

On September 1, National Parks of Boston took over the Network to Freedom's social media accounts. The National Parks of Boston host nine Network to Freedom Listings, which they highlighted throughout their takeover.

Feed Post 1: Introducing National Parks of Boston

National Parks of Boston is honored to be kicking off Network to Freedom’s social media takeover for #InternationalUndergroundRailroadMonth! We are proud of our strong partnership with the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program as it honors, preserves, and promotes the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight. Our park currently has nine designated sites and programs on the Network to Freedom. To learn about these sites and programs, please visit our website: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/npb-and-ntf.htm

Sites include: African Meeting House, Faneuil Hall, Robert Gould Shaw Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial, and Lewis and Harriet Hayden House.

Programs include: The Black Heritage Trail®, “Ghosts of the Revolution” walking tour, “Rocking the Cradle” town meeting, “Safe Harbor: Boston's Maritime Underground Railroad” walking tour, and the digital exploration “Boston: An Underground Railroad Hub.”

National Parks of Boston's Network to Freedom Sites include: African Meeting House, Faneuil Hall, Robert Gould Shaw Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial, and Lewis and Harriet Hayden House.

Image Credits: Interior photo of Faneuil Hall Town Meeting is courtesy of Buddy Secor. African Meeting House and The Black Heritage Trail® photos are Courtesy of Matt Teuten. Etching is From The New York Public Library. Remaining photos are NPS Photos.

Feed Post 2: Boston's Underground Railroad

Interested in exploring Boston’s Underground Railroad history this month? Check out our calendar of events to see what we have in store this September! Join rangers as they lead free guided programs at sites associated with Boston’s Underground Railroad movement. Programs will focus on the journeys of freedom seekers in Boston and the various ways in which Bostonians came together to help freedom seekers.

For details on program offerings at our park this month and year-round, please visit https://www.nps.gov/boaf/planyourvisit/calendar.htm.

Can’t make it to Boston? We’ve got you covered with our virtual programming! Get started by visiting https://www.nps.gov/boaf/learn/historyculture/boston-an-underground-railroad-hub.htm.

A Ranger in uniform with a flat hat stands in front of the Robert Gould Shaw Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial and holds up an open binder to a group of young people. The page in the binder shows a painting with text below it reading “Battle of Ft. Wagner, SC 1863.”

Matt Teuten

Feed Post 3: Boston: An Underground Railroad Hub

In the mid-1800s, Boston served as a hub of abolitionist and Underground Railroad activity. Freedom seekers came to Boston to begin a new life or stopped here on their journey to freedom. Bostonians opened their doors to provide shelter and their wallets to give financial assistance. Individuals and organizations in this city not only protested the fugitive slave laws, but they also militantly responded to fugitive slave arrests. To recognize Boston’s role in this pivotal moment in history, we created the digital exploration “Boston: An Underground Railroad Hub,” which is one of our park’s Network to Freedom programs.

Through an evolving array of interactive maps, videos, articles, and other features, we invite you to learn about the freedom seekers who escaped to Boston and the Bostonians who assisted them. Check out this digital exploration on our website: https://www.nps.gov/boaf/learn/historyculture/boston-an-underground-railroad-hub.htm

Graphic for “Boston: An Underground Railroad Hub.”

NPS Photo

Reel: Women in Boston's Underground Railroad

Duration:

2 minutes, 22 seconds

Women’s involvement in the Underground Railroad has long been overlooked. In the 1840s and 1850s, many of Boston's women operated their homes as safe houses on the Underground Railroad, risking their own safety and freedom to provide direct aid to freedom seekers. National Parks of Boston shared this Reel as part of #TakeoverTheNetwork - a social media takeover by the Network to Freedom Program.

See more from #TakeoverTheNetwork 2022