1 10 24 https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/0cb5afcd66ebb5b937defb5300182a93.jpg 24e399bb571182a17f7325efbdba335d https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/269933f1337db37c35e41229726be1fb.jpg 4f9b32bea43b3866c7ab5d2d48cf655d https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/0710a5e08bf43327b289c2a6113dd6cd.jpg af73d829a92f59d835b9031ce88d7dfc Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <h2>A railroad station mural</h2> Subject The topic of the resource <h2>The underground railroad in Macomb, IL</h2> Description An account of the resource <h3>This three-paneled mural is located in the Thomas C. Carper Amtrak train station in Macomb. Unveiled November 6, 2025, the mural is titled, "Freedom's Trail: The Underground Railroad in McDonough County." The artist Michael Mahoney created the mural. The mural centers the figures of African Americans fleeing slavery, suggesting their agency and various ways of flight (though, notwithstanding the mural's details and location, actually rarely along railroad tracks), both individually and, less often, as families. The fugitives in the mural do not depict any particular people, suggestive of the anonymous identities of most freedom-seekers - their intention and that of their conductors. The white figures in the murals are based on historic photographs of the Harmon Allison and James Blazer families, who hid and transported fugitives through McDonough County. The map shows the locations of the Allison farm in Chalmers township and the Blazer farm in Industry. </h3> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <h3>Michael Mahoney</h3> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <h3>November 6, 2025</h3> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource <h3>Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau</h3> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource <h3>Still image</h3> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <h3>WIUGRR24</h3> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <h3>Illinois, United States</h3> antislavery heritage tourism Illinois Macomb slavery Underground Railroad https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/a6af92a35f5c4b9e54e4b01ee0a9d720.png 10d1c7780854b4c2476d1d4eff3690f1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <h3>A trap door</h3> Subject The topic of the resource <h2>The underground railroad in Macomb, IL</h2> Description An account of the resource <h4>This image shows a trap door inside a Macomb home built in 1854-1855 by George Parkinson, and subsequently owned by Damon Tunnicliff, a prominent Illinois lawyer who opposed slavery and whose daughter, Helen Tunnicliff Catterall, wrote a renowned, multi-volume, <em>Judicial Cases Concerning American Slavery and the Negro</em> (1926-1937). Local legend asserts the home was a UGRR stop on the basis of an underground tunnel, now closed, but which connected the house with a smaller cabin outside it, to which the trap door pictured leads.</h4> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <h3>Damon Tunnicliff</h3> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <h4>"Macomb's Historic Homes," <em>Illinois Stories, </em>produced by <span>WSIU Public Broadcasting, aired December 19, 2011</span></h4> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <h4>WSIU PUblic Broadcasting</h4> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <h4>Trap door probably built in the 1860s-1870s; video produced 2011</h4> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <h4>Public Broadcasting Service</h4> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource <h4>Still image</h4> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <h4>Illinois, United States</h4> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <h4>WIUGRR23</h4> antislavery heritage tourism Illinois Macomb slavery Underground Railroad https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/6aeca9cda441da282a382b0a21eb6bd3.jpg 7d3dfe25659195036f37829d71d8fdf6 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data <h4>printed color map</h4> Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image <h4>5' x 3'</h4> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <h3>WIUGRR Map</h3> Subject The topic of the resource <h4>Underground Railroad maps</h4> Description An account of the resource <h4>A map of the sites of the Underground Railroad in Western Illinois, documentable based on records surviving as of 2005</h4> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <h4>Owen Muelder</h4> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <h4>Underground Railroad Freedom Center at Knox College</h4> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <h4>January 2005</h4> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource <h4>BGPatterson</h4> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <h4>Owen Muelder, Underground Railroad Freedom Center at Knox College</h4> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource <h4>jpeg photograph</h4> Language A language of the resource <h4>English</h4> Type The nature or genre of the resource <h4>map</h4> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <h4>WIUGRR22</h4> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <h4>Illinois, United States</h4> antislavery Knox College maps slavery Underground Railroad https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/cbb768985e02d7461849c7a08931c8e4.jpg 10c83e8c0f0223d57456deb2a886412a Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data <h4>Stone and metal monument</h4> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <h3>Beecher Chapel marker</h3> Subject The topic of the resource <h4>Underground Railroad tourism and heritage</h4> Description An account of the resource <h4>Presbyterian and Congregational settlers in Galesburg formed the town's Old First Church in 1837. By the 1850s, their unity fractured over Congregationalists' opposition to some southern Presbyterians' support of slavery. In 1858 Congregationalists separated to establish the First Congregational Church, calling Edward Beecher, former president of Illinois College and co-founder of Illinois' first antislavery society, to return to the state from Boston, Massachusetts. The First Congregational Church, on South Broad Street, was across the street and south of the Old First Church. The belfry of the Old First Church was known as a hiding place for fugitive slaves. The Old First Church was razed in 1895, the same year that Knox College acquired the First Congregational Church and renamed it Beecher Chapel. The chapel itself was razed in 1966.</h4> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <h4>Galesburg Pilot Club</h4> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <h4>Marker erected 1987</h4> Type The nature or genre of the resource <h4>image</h4> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <h4>WIUGRR #20</h4> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <h4>Illinois, United States</h4> antislavery Congregationalists Edward Beecher Galesburg Illinois slavery Underground Railroad https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/43c62f60457b5e52f7cb3fb2ef506304.jpg 5e5c8be4d18e8f3e63f44c9e96a3178d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Knox College heritage exhibition label Subject The topic of the resource George Washington Gale, City of Galesburg Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document <h3><strong>Committed to Equality<br />George Washington Gale, a Presbyterian minister from New York State, founded Knox College to educate young men to preach the Gospel. The college was among the first institutions in the United States open to all men and women regardless of their racial background. Knox's founders hoped to make education accessible to students of even the most limited financial means through manual labor and the sale of thousands of acres of land to new settlers.<br />Abolition City <br />The village and the college founded by George Washington Gale in the 1830s were home to uncompromising abolitionists and Underground Railroad activists who earned both the community and the college a notorious reputation. Gale and those who followed him established a town and a college that would support the Underground Railroad, welcome African American students, and established a legacy of activism on the Illinois prairie.</strong></h3> Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data <h3><strong>exhibition label</strong></h3> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <h4>Abolition City</h4> Subject The topic of the resource <h3><strong>Underground Railroad tourism</strong></h3> Description An account of the resource <h3><strong>This nickname of Galesburg appears in a permanent exhibition of Knox College's founding and first decades in the era of the Civil War, in the Whitcomb Heritage Center, third floor of Knox College's Alumni Hall. </strong></h3> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <h3><strong>Rhodesworks and Proto Productions</strong></h3> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <h3><strong>Knox College</strong></h3> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <h3><strong>2014</strong></h3> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource <h3><strong>Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College</strong></h3> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <h3><strong>Knox College</strong></h3> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource <h3><strong>jpeg image</strong></h3> Language A language of the resource <h3><strong>English</strong></h3> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <h3><strong>WIUGRR #20</strong></h3> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <h3><strong>Illinois, United States</strong></h3> antislavery Galesburg George Washington Gale heritage tourism Illinois Knox College slavery Underground Railroad https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/8aa521f32d17b260cdc1cd9c40c26e86.jpg f290232d1d9724faffd9ebd5839d2078 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data <strong>stone monument</strong> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Susan "Aunt Sukey" Richardson gravestone Subject The topic of the resource <strong>African American agents in the Underground Railroad</strong> Description An account of the resource <strong>In 1842, indentured servant Susan “Sukey” Richardson, her three children, and another woman, Hannah Morrison, fled north from Sparta, Illinois, assisted by William Hayes, a neighbor of Richardson’s master, Andrew Borders. Borders had brought Richardson as a slave from Virginia. Hayes was inspired by opposition to slavery of his church, the Covenanters. He, Hannah, and the Richardsons traveled by foot and steamboat to Farmington, but were caught and jailed in Galesburg, before its antislavery committee freed them. Sukey and Hannah remained free, but Borders kidnapped Sukey's children and returned to his farm; the family never reunited. Subsequently, Sukey married a free black man named Henry Van Allen. They had three children together, but in the early 1850s he disappeared, leaving her with their three children. Sukey then married Thomas Richardson, a widower who had also escaped on the Underground Railroad. She operated an Underground Railroad safe house, and helped found the Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, the oldest African American Church in Knox County. She died in 1904 and is buried in Galesburg's Hope Cemetery. </strong> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <strong>Friends of Hope Cemetery</strong> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <strong>Gravestone added to the Richardson gravesite in 2004</strong> Type The nature or genre of the resource <strong>image</strong> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <strong>WIUGRR #19</strong> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <strong>Illinois, United States</strong> Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church antislavery Galesburg Illinois Susan Sukey Richardson Underground Railroad William Hayes https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/7b5509c7ea81e23517346c6c7c9ff61f.jpg 98d8981172b4a8059eb6543479424aff Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data <h5>Painting</h5> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <h4>Old Charley painting</h4> Subject The topic of the resource <h4>African American agents in the Underground Railroad</h4> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource <h4>jpeg photograph</h4> Type The nature or genre of the resource <h4>image</h4> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <h4>WIUGRR #18</h4> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <h4>Illinois, United States</h4> Description An account of the resource <h4>An 1856 painting of a man, Charley and a girl, Abigail Peck. Charley allegedly escaped slavery in Lewis County, Missouri in 1842 and was either caught in Quincy, Illinois and returned to bondage, or became a conductor, helping others to freedom on multiple trips between eastern Missouri and Chicagoland. In 2018 the Lombard Historical Society produced research indicating Charley resided with the Sheldon Peck family of Lombard in the 1850s before, possibly, enlisting in the U.S. military during the Civil War. Various oral histories about Charley, though none by him or other African Americans, circulated in Quincy and in McDonough County. One account attributed his assistance to other escaped slaves to his bitterness at learning of his master's sale of his wife while he was a fugitive. </h4> <h4></h4> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <h4>Lombard Historical Society</h4> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <h4>Lombard Historical Society</h4> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <h4>June 17, 2020</h4> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource <h4>Sandy Schroeder</h4> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <h4>Lombard Historical Society</h4> antislavery Illinois Lombard Sheldon Peck slavery Underground Railroad https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/6a24f3a165640ff77eb2e025be2ea8bd.jpg 06aa79bfc76eac31cf73737cdb80b70b Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <h4>Spoon River Valley site</h4> Subject The topic of the resource <h4>Underground railroad tourism and heritage</h4> Description An account of the resource <h4>The road sign in this image was formerly posted in or near Bernadotte, Fulton County. It directed tourists to visit the site of the home of Francis Overton, and his daughter, Harriet Overton, both WIUGRR operators. Francis built a cabin near Bernadotte in 1835, where he harbored fugitive slaves and from which he accompanied them along a ravine to another safe space, the Stone Castle. Reflecting both local sentiment, and the fact that some operators' illicit complicity with fugitive slaves was an open secret, an anti-black mob attacked Francis one day in town. Harriet mounted a horse, and, armed with a lead bar, charged the mob, obtaining her father's release.</h4> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <h4>Glennette Tilley Turner</h4> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <h4><em>Underground Railroad in Illinois</em></h4> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <h4>Newman Educational Publishing</h4> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <h4>2001</h4> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <h4>Glennette Tilley Turner</h4> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource <h4>jpeg photograph</h4> Type The nature or genre of the resource <h4>image</h4> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <h4>Illinois, United States</h4> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <h4>WIUGRR #17</h4> Language A language of the resource <h4>English</h4> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource <div class="YoJUFe"> <div class="JbD68d"> <h4 class="zNLTKd">Illinois Department of Local Government Affairs Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, <em>Intergovernmental Cooperation in Illinois</em>, 1976</h4> </div> </div> antislavery Bernadotte Francis Overton Harriet Overton Illinois slavery Underground Railroad https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/6a72d8a937dd366fe1883b459598c614.jpg ceea08e447140515feaf2f7b943670d0 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data jpeg photo Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <h4>Hamilton Memorial School</h4> Subject The topic of the resource <h4>Underground Railroad tourism and heritage</h4> Description An account of the resource <h4>Site of the Hamilton Primary School of Otterville, originally built in 1835 and rebuilt in 1873. The school was founded by physician and former slave owner Silas Hamilton. It is the alma mater of George Washington, Hamilton's manumitted slave and a likely underground railroad operator. </h4> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <h4>Silas Hamilton</h4> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <h4>Friends of the Hamilton Primary School</h4> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <h4>1835</h4> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource <h4>Otter Creek Historical Society</h4> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <h4>Hamilton Memorial Association</h4> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource <h4>jpeg photograph</h4> Type The nature or genre of the resource <h4>image</h4> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <h4>WIUGRR #16</h4> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <h4>Illinois, United States</h4> Relation A related resource <h4>Eugene Baldwin, "Little school on the prairie: Preserving Otterville history," <em>Alton Telegraph</em>, April 18, 2017</h4> antislavery Hamilton School Illinois Jersey County Otterville slavery Underground Railroad https://timroberts.org/wiugrr/files/original/1af1593b19e2e9a0130d61c64173e7dc.jpg d837b03eb1d7c971a5eafcd5c5f92f48 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data <h4>jpeg photo</h4> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <h4>An Unmarked McDonough County Station </h4> Subject The topic of the resource <h4>Underground Railroad site</h4> Description An account of the resource <h4>This image shows the modern home and farm buildings on the location of a UGRR station near Macomb, Illinois, "operated" by Harmon Allison, who settled there with his wife Beulah around 1854, once his father William built it. Beulah Brown Allison moved to Macomb from Quincy, where her family were UGRR operators. The site of the Harmon homestead remains highly rural, and the orientation of the image is from the southwest, thus suggesting something of the site's possible appearance to fugitives arriving from the direction of Quincy, Illinois.</h4> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource <h4>Tim Roberts</h4> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <h4>1854-1865</h4> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <h4>None asserted</h4> Relation A related resource <h4>John Hallwas, <em>McDonough County Historic Sites,</em> Arcadia Publishing, 2003</h4> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource <h4>jpeg photograph</h4> Type The nature or genre of the resource <h4>image</h4> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <h4>WIUGRR #15</h4> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant <h4>Illinois, United States</h4> antislavery Harmon Allison Illinois Military Tract Macomb McDonough County slavery Underground Railroad