TOWNSHIP RESEARCH TEAMS TO BE ORGANIZED

Volunteers sought for Underground Railroad project

Lenawee County residents may soon have the chance to help save one of the most significant stories in American history---a story that partly took place in this area.

The Sojourner Truth Technical Training Center at Adrian College is scheduling a series of Town Hall meetings this summer to explain a new network of township research teams in Lenawee County. The teams will help collect and preserve the history of the Underground Railroad.

A team will consist of at least six volunteers. The Center will train the volunteers on how to use technology to record Underground Railroad history and prepare it for inclusion in the TERMINUS Underground Railroad Digital Archive. 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.

The township project will begin this summer. Lenawee County will serve as a model, and if successful, a similar program will be launched in the Battle Creek area.

The Center, founded at Adrian College in November 2001, is dedicated to training individuals about how to document the Underground Railroad and preserve Michigan's Underground Railroad history using the latest research methodologies and technological tools.

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. One of these, known as Route 2, passed through Lenawee County on its way to Detroit and Canada. Lenawee was home to abolitionist champion Laura Haviland, and several Underground Railroad sites are located here. Additionally, Adrian College was founded by abolitionist Asa Mahan in 1859.

For more information on the Center, go to Sojourner Truth Technical Training Center, or call 517-264-3189.