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Sojourner Truth Technical Training Center at Adrian College

The TERMINUS Project: Preserving the Underground Railroad in Digital Space

The Underground Railroad is one of the most significant stories in American history. Its impact is felt on an international level and its lessons of courage and humanitarian triumph continue to inspire. Michigan played a major role in the Underground Railroad, serving as a conduit for thousands of escaped slaves who traveled along at least seven established routes throughout the state. Despite its importance, there hasn't been an established means to document and share knowledge about the multitude of reported and confirmed Underground Railroad sites, people and artifacts in Michigan. Until now.

The Sojourner Truth Technical Training Center at Adrian College has launched the TERMINUS Project to provide world-wide access to Michigan's rich Underground Railroad history. The Sojourner Truth Technical Training Center is an innovative collaboration between Adrian College, the Sojourner Truth Institute of Battle Creek & Heritage Battle Creek Research Center, the Michigan Historical Center, International Network to Freedom Association, and Wayne State University's Civic Literacy Urban Agenda project.

The Center, founded at Adrian College in November 2001, is dedicated to training individuals how to document the Underground Railroad and preserve Michigan's Underground Railroad history using the latest research methodologies and technological tools. Central to this is the TERMINUS Underground Railroad Digital Archive - a powerful multimedia relational database developed to collect, retrieve and disseminate information on the different aspects on the Underground Railroad. The name TERMINUS was chosen because Michigan was the northern terminus for the Underground Railroad and was recognized as a key destination and crossing point into Canada for escaped slaves. TERMINUS is the most advanced database of its type and is expected to become the most comprehensive repository of Michigan Underground Railroad information in the country. Through TERMINUS, researchers, historians and scholars will be able to conveniently access and share their collected history over the Internet.

The Center carries on the freedom heritage of Adrian College and Lenawee County. The College was founded by abolitionist Asa Mahan in 1859. Additionally, the county was home to abolitionist champion Laura Haviland, and several Underground Railroad sites are located here.

The Sojourner Truth Technical Training Center at Adrian College is the first of its kind in the country. The Center will serve organizations, groups and individuals on a state and national level by providing workshops conducted by the Center's staff. It is expected that up to 1,500 participants will be directly trained annually through the Center with an additional 8,500 impacted through resulting Underground Railroad related programs. In January 2002 the Sojourner TruthTechnical Training Center hosted its first symposium about the TERMINUS Project.

Workshop participants learn:

A general history of the Underground Railroad with specific emphasis on the role and significance of Michigan in the Underground Railroad.
The proper methodology for preserving and documenting suspected and confirmed Underground Railroad sites, artifacts and individuals.
How to use advanced technology (digital cameras, video cameras, portable scanners, Internet, databases) to properly research and document historic sites, artifacts and individuals and to conduct oral history interviews.
How to submit and retrieve collected Underground Railroad research into the TERMINUS Underground Railroad Digital Archive.

TERMINUS on the Internet

The Center is developing a TERMINUS website to seamlessly connect users with the TERMINUS digital archive over the Internet. While the primary purpose of the TERMINUS website will be to provide access to the TERMINUS digital archive, additional functions will be incorporated into its design to create an online resource and virtual community for the discussion of the Underground Railroad in Michigan:

A calendar of events hosted by the Center and its satellites, including training symposium dates and submission deadlines for the archive
Curricula and other materials for educators and their students
Articles, source documents, and research updates
Chat rooms and other features
Links to other Underground Railroad sites

The methodology established at the Sojourner Truth Technical Training Center through the TERMINUS Project will provide a template for institutions, organizations and individuals to properly collect Underground Railroad information. The Center will establish uniform standards for the preservation and documentation of the Underground Railroad through the use of advanced technology. As a result, suspected and confirmed Underground Railroad sites will be properly documented by trained and qualified individuals who are utilizing technological tools that are compatible and adaptable on a state-wide basis.

TERMINUS Project Schedule

The three-year pilot phase of the TERMINUS Project is currently underway. This pilot phase includes acquiring the computer hardware and software necessary to complete the TERMINUS Project in addition to securing the personnel expertise to maintain the technical training center's development and operation. To date, funds have been committed toward this project from the U.S. Department of Education, Michigan Historical Center, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, and Michigan Humanities Council. Once completed, TERMINUS will become a catalyst to the development of Underground Railroad programs in Michigan and beyond. The project will be an integral part of the ongoing effort to preserve and document one of this country's greatest historical and humanitarian stories. The TERMINUS Project will be a powerful resource to the individuals, agencies, organizations and collectives committed to honoring the state's Underground Railroad legacy and will lay a firm foundation for future programs that define and share the Underground Railroad story.

Contact Professor Kimberley Davis, Sojourner Truth Technical Training Center at Adrian College, Deans Hall, Adrian, MI 49221; phone 517-264-3920. email: kdavis@adrian.edu.

TERMINUS Freedom Schools Project

The TERMINUS Freedom School Initiative is an innovative arts education program that will transform schools and other appropriate venues in participating communities into vibrant cultural arts campuses that educate youth about the history of the Underground Railroad, anti-slavery activities, and civil rights in addition to contemporary issues of social justice. Its purpose is to establish Freedom School sites that will provide quality in-school and after school arts education programs for youth in partnership with area schools and youth development agencies.

The TERMINUS Freedom School Initiative is facilitated by the Sojourner Truth Institute of Battle Creek and Heritage Battle Creek Research Center in partnership with the Sojourner Truth Technical Training Center at Adrian College. The partnering organizations of this program are seeking schools and youth development agencies to serve as host sites for this exciting new program. Each site will engage up to 500 elementary school students with a variety of visual arts, drama, music and heritage programs in addition to visiting artists provided by the TERMINUS Freedom School Initiative. The program will begin in September 2002 with the introduction of its first three Freedom School sites.