National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Where might you expect to locate an undiscovered priceless relic? Does the interior of a tobacco barn in rural Kentucky sound like a good possibility? Probably not, but that's where one of our nation's major slavery artifacts was recently discovered.

The 20-by-30-foot, two-story structure, hidden inside a large tobacco barn, was used as a holding pen for slaves in the 1830's.

Built by slave trader Captain John Anderson, the rough-hewn log enclosure held men and women who would be sold as property. The occupants, often shackled for weeks to a central chain, were unable to stand.

Now serving as the centerpiece of the new National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, the holding pen is seen as both a place of darkness and of triumph.

The museum's senior advisor Carl Westmoreland states, "This pen is a testimony to our people. We survived places like this, unheated and chained, and it didn't break us. We don't see it as an object to cast blame but one to bring clarity."

In contrast to the bleak pen, several colorful quilts adorn a nearby wall. Secret codes hidden in the quilts' designs gave information regarding dates and routes for planned escapes.

Most tours of the center begin in the Suite for Freedom exhibit that presents three animated stories about freedom, slavery and the Underground Railroad.

The story of the Underground Railroad is told in simplistic terms that can be understood by even young visitors in the Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad exhibit. The exhibit's 6-minute film, Midnight Decision, portrays a young man who is considering an escape on the Underground Railroad.

Narrated by Oprah Winfrey, the Brothers of the Borderland film transports viewers to the center of an attempt to escape across the Ohio River in the 1850's. The 25-minute special effects film is shown in a unique environmental theater that also allows visitors to follow the courageous actions of Underground Railroad conductors John Park and the Rev. John Rankin in the riverfront town of Ripley, Ohio.