2023 Intenational Underground Railroad Month: 1854 Negro Hill, Mormon Island and Negro Bar

(Folsom, CA) The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program was established by Federal legislation in 1998 that directed the National Park Service to commemorate and honor the Underground Railroad as a crucial element in the evolution of the nation’s Civil Rights movement.

US Department of Interior, Natural Parks Service - Underground Railroad to Freedom mission, through collaboration with local, state and federal entities, as well as individuals and organizations, is to honor, preserve and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, which continues to inspire people worldwide.

The journey towards California Statehood during the US Mexican War, California Gold Rush and US Civil War Era is rich with many potential historic sites in today's Stste of California. The Gold Mining District of Negro Hill, Mormon Island and Negro Bar remains the hub for our California Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Through the mission, the Network to Freedom helps to advance the idea that all human beings embrace the right to self-determination and freedom from oppression.

2023 International Underground Railroad Month we hope to spark a renaissance effort as a catalyst for innovation, partnerships, and scholarship that connects and shares the diverse legacy of the Underground Railroad across boundaries and future generations throughout California.

The original Federal legislation identified three components to the program: to educate the public; to provide technical assistance’ and to create a Network of historical sites, interpretive and educational programs and research facilities that have a verifiable connection to the Underground Railroad.

As of June 2021, there are 680 members of this Network, in 39 states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), and the Virgin Islands.

More are added twice a year.

The Network to Freedom defines the Underground Railroad as:

"the resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, through the end of the American Civil War—[it] refers to the efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage.

Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape. Because slavery existed in all parts of the country, the Underground Railroad was not confined to a single geographic location.

As slavery moved West, so did the Underground Railroad. Destinations included Spanish Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, Alta California, Latin America, Great Britain, and elsewhere. "

Historic sites recognized by the Network to Freedom include

· escape sites

· documented routes

· kidnapping sites

· rescue sites

· maroon communities

· sites associated with legal challenges related to escape and flight

· slave rebellions

· safe houses

· churches whose congregations assisted freedom seekers, military sites where freedom seekers may have fought or sought refuge

· associations with prominent Underground Railroad activists or freedom seekers

· destination sites where people made a new life in freedom

· cemeteries and burial sites

· commemorative sites or monuments

September 2023, we will shine a brite light upon Historic Negro Hill, Mormon Island and Negro Bar, California as a unique and essential part of International Underground Railroad Month.