Although Illinois was a "free" state before the Civil War, support for civil rights for African Americans, and for the underground railroad, was not widespread. Illinois voters came close to legalizing slavery in the state's first decades, and, until their abolition in 1865, Illinois' "black codes" largely prevented even free African Americans from comfortably living in the state. Items in this exhibit emphasize not only the personal dangers to black and white conductors, but enslavement of black Illinoisans within the state or bound southward - a reverse underground railroad. As you study this exhibit, ask, do its items belong here? Why or why not? How do they de-mythologize the underground railroad?
