In 1853, Hamilton Avenue recorded the largest and best-documented flight to freedom across the Ohio River through Cincinnati. Over several decades around that date, the infrastructure of the Underground Railroad developed in communities along Hamilton Avenue. Follow the footsteps from Petersburg, KY, through ravines and creeks, local cemeteries, and communities including Cumminsville, Northside, College Hill, North College Hill, and Mt. Healthy, where Black and white abolitionists conducted and facilitated the local escape route. Learn how we traced these stories of the first interracial civil-rights movement known as the Underground Railroad.

Moderators: Diana Porter (historian and driver of the project), Lisa Schumann (genealogist), and Karen Arnett (amateur historian) are three of the five “history ladies” who contributed to HamiltonAvenueRoadToFreedom.org. Deepen your understanding of the work on the Hamilton Avenue Underground Railroad as they share the contributions they and their team uncovered for this extensive multi-year project.