Published TUESDAY, September 19, 2023: 'UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: Freedom Seekers Descendants ' Pictures by ZUMA Press represented Chicago Tribune's photographer Terrence Antonio James: Over the past eight months, the Chicago Tribune writers Darcel Rockett and Tina E. Akouris embarked on an in-depth examination of the journeys through Illinois of enslaved people who sought better lives for themselves. They visited the state's Underground Railroad sites that aided in their escape, spoken to descendants of those freedom seekers. The resulting series depicts what life was like during a time when thousands of people made this pilgrimage in the hopes of finding freedom, and how their history ripples into the present day. Photographs with this story by Terrence Antonio James were made using an iPhone tintype filter. Welcome to: 'UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: Freedom Seekers Descendants'
© zReportage.com Issue #906 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY, September 19, 2023: 'UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: Freedom Seekers Descendants ' Pictures by ZUMA Press represented Chicago Tribune's photographer Terrence Antonio James: Over the past eight months, the Chicago Tribune writers Darcel Rockett and Tina E. Akouris embarked on an in-depth examination of the journeys through Illinois of enslaved people who sought better lives for themselves. They visited the state's Underground Railroad sites that aided in their escape, spoken to descendants of those freedom seekers. The resulting series depicts what life was like during a time when thousands of people made this pilgrimage in the hopes of finding freedom, and how their history ripples into the present day. Photographs with this story by Terrence Antonio James were made using an iPhone tintype filter. Welcome to: 'UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: Freedom Seekers Descendants'
LEANNA MCGEE stands at The Mother Rudd Barn, a site believed to be connected to the Underground Railroad, in Gurnee. McGee is a descendant of William Donnegan, who was a shoemaker who aided freedom seekers crossing through Illinois. From the onset of statehood in 1818 and into the Civil War years, more than 8,000 freedom seekers moved into and through Illinois. Historians estimate that 35,000 to 45,000 persons found freedom in Canada through the Underground Railroad.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire
JULIET LAVON WOODSON-WILSON stands in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery, where several of her ancestors are buried. Woodson-Wilson can trace her family back to those seeking freedom through the Underground Railroad.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire
GERALD MCWORTER, a descendant of ''Free'' Frank McWorter, stands outside his home in Urbana, Illinois. Free Frank founded New Philadelphia, an integrated town in western Illinois, the first in the nation to be registered by a Black man.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire
BRUCE PURNELL is a descendent of John Jones, who was born free in 1816 in North Carolina and eventually moved to Chicago. Jones aided freedom seekers as they traveled on the Underground Railroad.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire
KIMBERLY SIMMONS, an ancestor of Caroline Quarlls, sits at Alice's Garden Urban Farm in Milwaukee. Quarlls was the first enslaved person to travel through Wisconsin using the Underground Railroad and spent time on the land that includes Alice's Garden.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire
RONALD GAINES Jr., left, and his dad, RONALD GAINES Sr., stand at the Chicago's Finest Marina, owned by the elder Gaines. The family's genealogical hunt uncovered they are descendants of a freedom seeker who settled in Michigan.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire
Even though Illinois was a free state, it was far from being a safe or welcoming place for slaves. The state's Black Laws denied African Americans most fundamental freedoms and the Fugitive Slave Act required residents to return runaway slaves to their owners. Slave catchers roamed many areas, hoping to capture slaves and return them to their owners for a reward. This meant slaves had to travel through Illinois discretely, usually under the cover of darkness. They would go from safe house to safe house - a path to freedom that came to be known as the Underground Railroad.
© Even though Illinois was a free state, it was far from being a safe or welcoming place for slaves. The state's Black Laws denied African Americans most fundamental freedoms and the Fugitive Slave Act required residents to return runaway slaves to their owners. Slave catchers roamed many areas, hoping to capture slaves and return them to their owners for a reward. This meant slaves had to travel through Illinois discretely, usually under the cover of darkness. They would go from safe house to safe house - a path to freedom that came to be known as the Underground Railroad.
Rocky Fork New Bethel A.M.E. Church, in Godfrey, IL, is an Underground Railroad site. The Church originated before the Civil War when free people and slaves crossed the Mississippi River to begin life in Illinois. According to the National Park Service, as early as 1816, Rocky Fork Church was one of the first free state stops for slaves escaping Missouri.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire/
The Enos Apartment building, 325 E. 3rd St. in Alton, is an Underground Railroad site. The Alton Underground Railroad stop at Enos Apartments, has subterranean tunnels that resemble Roman catacombs and sit 15 feet below 3rd Street.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire
The Second Reading Book Shop, 16 E. Broadway in Alton, is an historic building with a connection to the Underground Railroad. It was built in 1831 and became a stop on the Underground Railroad in 1840.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire
Salem Baptist Church in Alton, is one of the oldest Black churches in Illinois and is an Underground Railroad site.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire
The former Asa Talcott house, currently the Jacksonville African American History Museum, in Jacksonville. This historic home is one of seven Underground Railroad sites in Jacksonville built in or before 1833. Asa was a brick maker who assisted slaves escaping from the South along with other local abolitionists.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire
Rocky Fork New Bethel A.M.E. Church, in Godfrey, is an historic Underground Railroad site. The Church originated before the Civil War when free people and slaves crossed the Mississippi River to begin life in Illinois. According to the National Park Service, as early as 1816, Rocky Fork Church was one of the first free state stops for slaves escaping Missouri.
© Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire/
