On freedom road : bicycle explorations and reckonings on the Underground Railroad

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Goodrich, David M.

Edition:

First Pegasus Books edition.

Physical Description:

ix, 246 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Genre:

Travel writing.

Summary:

"The traces of the Underground Railroad hide in plain sight: a great church in Philadelphia; a humble old house backing up to the New Jersey Turnpike; an industrial outbuilding in Ohio. Over the course of four years, David Goodrich rode his bicycle 3,000 miles east of the Mississippi to travel the routes of the Underground Railroad and delve into the history and stories in the places where they happened. He followed the most famous of conductors, Harriet Tubman, from where she was enslaved in Maryland, on the eastern shore, all the way to her family sanctuary at a tiny chapel in Ontario, Canada. Traveling South, he rode from New Orleans, where the enslaved were bought and sold, through Mississippi and the heart of the Delta Blues. As we pedal along with him, Goodrich brings us to the Borderland along the Ohio River, a kind of no-mans-land between North and South in the years before the Civil War. Here, slave hunters roamed both banks of the river, trying to catch people as they fled for freedom. We travel to Oberlin, Ohio, a town that staunchly defended freedom seekers, embodied in the life of Lewis Leary, who was lost in the fires of Harpers Ferry, but his spirit was reborn in the Harlem Renaissance. On Freedom Road enables us to see familiar places--New York and Philadelphia, New Orleans and Buffalo--in a very different light: from the vantage point of desperate people seeking to outrun the reach of slavery. Join in this journey to find the heroes and stories, both known and hidden, of the Underground Railroad"--

Subject Term:

Underground Railroad

Bicycle touring -- United States.

Historic sites -- United States.

Slavery -- United States -- History

Antislavery movements -- United States -- History.

Fugitive slaves -- United States -- History.

Publication Info:

New York : Pegasus Books, 2023.

Subject:

Underground Railroad

Bicycle touring -- United States.

Historic sites -- United States.

Slavery -- United States -- History

Antislavery movements -- United States -- History.

Fugitive slaves -- United States -- History.

Travel writing.

Underground Railroad -- United States

Backpack cycling

Bicycle camping

Bicycle tours

Touring, Bicycle

Heritage places, Historic

Heritage sites, Historic

Historic heritage places

Historic heritage sites

Historic places

Historical sites

Places, Historic

Sites, Historic

SAILS ISBN:

9781639363452

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... 1:FALLRIV-S	796.609 G654	1:BSTORAGE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Dartmouth - Southworth	796.6 GOO 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fall River Main	796.609 G654	Stacks	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library	796.6097 GOODRICH	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mattapoisett Free Public Library	973.7115 GOO 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Middleborough Public Library	973.7115 GOO	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Norfolk Public Library	796.6097 GOOD	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Westport Free Public Library	796.6 GOO 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A thoughtful and illuminating bicycle journey along the Underground Railroad by a climate scientist seeking to engage with American history.

The traces of the Underground Railroad hide in plain sight: a great church in Philadelphia; a humble old house backing up to the New Jersey Turnpike; an industrial outbuilding in Ohio. Over the course of four years, David Goodrich rode his bicycle 3,000 miles east of the Mississippi to travel the routes of the Underground Railroad and delve into the history and stories in the places where they happened.

He followed the most famous of conductors, Harriet Tubman, from where she was enslaved in Maryland, on the eastern shore, all the way to her family sanctuary at a tiny chapel in Ontario, Canada. Travelling South, he rode from New Orleans, where the enslaved were bought and sold, through Mississippi and the heart of the Delta Blues. As we pedal along with him, Goodrich brings us to the Borderland along the Ohio River, a kind of no-mans-land between North and South in the years before the Civil War. Here, slave hunters roamed both banks of the river, trying to catch people as they fled for freedom. We travel to Oberlin, Ohio, a town that staunchly defended freedom seekers, embodied in the life of Lewis Leary, who was lost in the fires of Harpers Ferry, but his spirit was reborn in the Harlem Renaissance.

On Freedom Road enables us to see familiar places--New York and Philadelphia, New Orleans and Buffalo--in a very different light: from the vantage point of desperate people seeking to outrun the reach of slavery. Join in this journey to find the heroes and stories, both known and hidden, of the Underground Railroad.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Climate scientist Goodrich (A Voyage Across an Ancient Ocean) documents his bike rides along "routes of the Underground Railroad" in this illuminating blend of history and travelogue. Aiming to "get closer to the people who walked these paths, and to their descendants," Goodrich begins by following Harriet Tubman's route from Maryland's Eastern Shore to Ontario, Canada. Along the way, Goodrich unearths moments of historical significance in places as unlikely as an eyebrow threading salon in lower Manhattan; formerly the offices the American Anti-Slavery Society, it was where Tubman once sought funds to help bring her parents north. Bicycling north along the Mississippi River from New Orleans, Goodrich documents the horrors of the "Second Middle Passage" that rerouted enslaved people from declining tobacco plantations in Maryland and Virginia to cotton plantations in the Deep South. Elsewhere, he relates the stories of Josiah Henson, whose published account of his life in slavery and 1830 escape from a Kentucky plantation inspired Uncle Tom's Cabin, and abolitionist Lewis Leary, who was mortally wounded during John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. Throughout, Goodrich reveals how slavery is remembered and misremembered in America, and makes a convincing case that "national trauma, like a wound, tends to heal when it's exposed to air." It's a harrowing yet inspirational ride. Photos. Agent: John Silbersack, Bent Agency. (Feb.)

Kirkus Review

A bicycle exploration of the paths to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Following a visit to a museum in Illinois, climate scientist Goodrich, who has undertaken multiple long-distance bike treks, began thinking about the enslaved people that made their way north seeking freedom. Chronicling his 3,000-mile journey, the author records both well- and little-known historical tales, and he effectively demonstrates his belief that traveling by bike provides a unique feel for the land. In taking these journeys, his goal was to "get closer to the people who walked these paths" and to "find a way to tell some of their stories." In that, he succeeds. First, the author eloquently recounts Harriet Tubman's 940-mile journey to Canada in search of freedom, including the story of a violent childhood injury that drove her "potent dreams and visions." Goodrich takes us along the Blues Highway where, "out in the shimmering heat, the field hollers, the call-and-response songs, the spirituals, and the distant rhythms of West Africa slowly came together to birth the blues, the quintessential American music." Elsewhere, he shares the real-life stories behind some of the events and characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. For example, he describes the life of Josiah Henson, the conductor on the Underground Railroad who was the inspiration for the book's main character. When he encountered a group of Native Americans, believed to be Shawnee, they guided him and his family along part of his route to freedom. Goodrich also reflects on the current trend in education to suppress discussions of slavery in order to avoid potential discomfort by White students. "There are things in our history that should make us uncomfortable," he writes. However, "only in grappling with the truths of our past can we begin to construct something new and better." A heartfelt reminder of the importance of remembering our past in order to continue to learn from it. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Goodrich rode his bicycle some 3,000 miles along the routes of the Underground Railroad to gain insight into places and people crucial to helping enslaved people gain freedom. One of his reasons for covering so much distance by bicycle--from New Orleans to Ohio and up to St. Catherine's, Ontario--is the discovery on a family trip to Bristol that one of his ancestors was an enslaver. In detail, Goodrich mingles his present findings with Harriet Tubman's steps and many obstacles toward freedom. When he gets to New Orleans, Goodrich uncovers Jim Crow laws and vestiges of auction blocks before getting into the 1811 revolt and the German Coast uprising. He also explores Ohio and later Kentucky to share more accounts of lesser-known freedom seekers. He doesn't shy away from detailing the obstacles that freedom seekers faced, and although he identifies the white people such as Quakers who helped those on the path to freedom, he also doesn't aggrandize them, and he makes it clear that there were many Black people, like William Still in Philadelphia, who helped those along the Underground Railroad. On Freedom Road is a vital and accessible text for readers to understand the conditions enslaved people faced when attempting escape.

A Note on Language	ix
1 Benches by the Road: The Ride, the Underground Railroad, and a Search for Sacred Places	1
2 Freedom Road East: The Trail of Harriet Tubman	9
i The Hand Reaching Out (Maryland)	9
ii Flight of the Brothers (Maryland)	16
iii Thunder on the Hill (Delaware)	25
iv In the Company of Friends (Pennsylvania)	36
v The Sanctuary by the Turnpike (New Jersey)	46
vi An Eyebrow Salon, a Subway, a Coffee Shop (New York)	50
vii Albany Vigilance (New York)	58
viii The Gossamer Mansion (New York)	70
ix Two Cemeteries (New York)	82
x "You've Shook the Lion's Paw" (New York, Ontario)	92
3 Freedom Road West: The River, the Blues, and the Borderland	103
i The Hidden History of Charles Deslondes (Louisiana)	107
ii The Blues Storm (Mississippi)	122
iii Return to Avalon (Mississippi)	133
iv Ulysses Grant and the Opening of the Underground Railroad (Mississippi, Tennessee)	141
v Trial of the African Brigade (Louisiana)	158
vi The Sunflower Field (Tennessee)	166
vii The Crossing of the Trails (Kentucky)	172
viii Casablanca in a Barber Shop (Kentucky, Indiana)	182
ix The Heroes of Ripley (Ohio)	192
x Josiah's Road (Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio)	200
xi The Magic Shawl (Ohio, West Virginia)	211
4 Freedom City	222
Acknowledgments	231
Image and Poem Credits	233
Endnotes	235

Available:

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Table of Contents