Lecture Series- Freedom Via Water! Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad on and Near Lake Michigan

Celebrate Black History Month with the Michigan Maritime Museum and presenter Dr. Larry McClellan and on Wednesday, February 12th at 6:30 PM as McClellan weaves a tale of freedom seekers in the Great Lakes region. Freedom via Water! Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad on and near Lake Michigan will discuss the decades before the Civil War when hundreds of freedom seekers escaping their enslavement in the South made their way to Chicago and then onward to Detroit and freedom in Canada. They traveled on and near Lake Michigan and once in Detroit, crossed Lake Huron to freedom. With images, maps and stories, this program will explore these journeys.

Dr. Larry A. McClellan is the President of the Midwest Underground Railroad Network, serves on the Illinois Underground Railroad Task Force and is a professor emeritus at Governors State University.

This lecture is part of our year-long programmatic series Whispers Across the Water that showcases and celebrates the invaluable contributions of minority communities to Great Lakes maritime history and heritage.

You can purchase tickets for this event online, over the phone, or in-person.

This lecture series is made possible thanks to the Nielsen-Wells Grant Fund and Mike & Susan Smith. Tickets are free for Museum members and $10 for non-members. Doors open at 6 PM.