The Invisible Road To Freedom At The Stephentown Historical Society

Paul and Mary Liz Stewart of The Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region will present “The Invisible Road To Freedom” at the Stephentown Historical Society meeting on Monday, October 1, at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be at the Stephentown Heritage Center on Garfield Road, Stephentown. It is free and open to the public. The building is handicapped accessible. For directions or information, phone 518-733-0010.
Through pictures and documentation the Stewarts will tell about the “ordinary” citizens who helped runaways seeking freedom from slavery and the freedom seekers who settled in or traveled through the Capital District. You may learn of Abel Brown, abolitionist pastor of the Sand Lake Baptist Church or newspaperman and freed slave Stephen Myers of Albany, who assisted thousands of individuals through the city toward freedom.
Paul and Mary Liz Stewart became interested in this aspect of our history through their work, she as a teacher of fifth and sixth-graders and he as a journalist assigned research on historic figures of Albany. Their research of 19th century documents revealed a story different from that usually told about the Underground Railroad. They bring their enthusiasm for history to the story of this movement in the Albany area and New York State, placing it in the context of national and international events.
The Stewarts are founders of The Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region and have written and spoken on the Underground Railroad for the past fourteen years. They have appeared on television and radio, given walking tours and are presently organizing the 12th Annual Conference on the Underground Railroad Movement set for April 2013 at Russell Sage College.