Underground Railroad

[solomia]

Also A house located on Hopkins , I was told growing up was a part of the underground railroad, but the owners are not interested in restoring to the original from and making the property a historical landmark.  Many times the house has been up for sale, but the price was way out of my income...

[Towntalk]

Some of the people who operated the Underground Railroad here in Youngstown were:

John Loughbridge
James Calvin
Dr. Bane
Harry Burnett
John Kirk

[Towntalk]

This is an interesting topic, because there was an Underground Station in the area of  the East End near Andrews Avenue. When I was putting together my history of Youngstown, there was a whole chapter on this very subject.

[jay]

Riding The Rails:
Discovering the Underground Railroad
In Northeast Ohio & Western Pennsylvania

     Pig Iron Press and the Youngstown City School District announce publication of RIDING THE RAILS: DISCOVERING THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN NORTHEAST OHIO & WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, an historical information booklet compiled by students in the greater Youngtown City School District, which surveys key figures in the national underground railroad movement, with particular emphasis on the movement's activity in Youngstown and the surrounding area.  Students involved in the project visited numerous underground railroad sites in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, and Ashtabula counties in Ohio, and Mercer and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania.  The students also visited underground railroad figure Harriet Tubman's home in Auburn, New York, and a church in Niagara Falls, Canada, which was started by runaway slaves from the United States.

     The coordinating teacher in the project was Mrs. Penny Wells, who teaches history in the 7th and 8th grade honors and gifted program at Volney Rogers Junior High School.  Local historian involved in the project was Mr. Vincent Shivers, who is employed by WFMJ-TV and is studying for his M.A. in History at Youngstown State University.  The booklet was designed by Mr. Jim Villani of Pig Iron Press, who is also a teacher of writing at Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania.  The booklet compiling the students' research is intended to be a supplemental classroom text used by eighth graders in the Youngstown City School District.

     The nine students who participated in the history project are  from various schools in the Youngstown area.  Involved students include Rabab Al-Sharif, Chaney High School, 10th grade; Jack Daughtery, Ursuline High School, 12th grade; Taylor Daugherty, Ursuling High School, 10th grade; Jasamine Driskell, Wilson High School, 10th grade; Rukiya Fleming, Chaney High School, 10th grade; Lea Van Kline, Willow Creek Learning Center, 8th grade; Niya Merriweather, Hayes Junior High School, 8th grade; Marissa Parm, Youngstown Christian School, 7th grade; and Danielle Rudloff, Chaney High School, 10th grade.

     The origin of this inter-school history project goes back to the administration of superintendent Ben McGhee, who first proposed putting a teacher and an historian together to work on an educational project with students.  The program will begin its third year during the 2006-2007 school year.  Pig Iron Press joined the program the past year, the first year that a booklet was produced out of the project, and the finished booklet demonstrates a fruitful collaboration between the school district and local small business.

     The booklet measures 7X8.5 inches, 56 pages and is illustrated.  Inspection copies are available at Pig IronPress, 26 North Phelps Street, downtown Youngstown.  For information, phone 330-747-6932.   The booklet retails at $15.00.