Underground Railroad legislation could boost education, tourism opportunities, supporters say
Local keepers of the history of the Underground Railroad in the Chicago area and south suburbs are applauding progress of state legislation to create a statewide commission devoted to the subject.
They say creation of the Illinois Freedom Trails Commission could increase educational opportunities into an important segment of American history largely unknown to many people, and perhaps boost tourism centered on the journeys of 'freedom seekers' through Illinois.
For many slaves escaping from Southern states, the Chicago area was a stopover on the way to Detroit and eventually into Canada, local researchers said.
Legislation creating the commission recently passed through the state Senate and could be taken up soon by the House, according to state Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin, D-Matteson, chief co-sponsor in the House.
She was co-chair of the state's Underground Railroad Task Force, which helped get the legislation introduced.
Meyers-Martin said there are enormous amounts of information done by researchers throughout the state who could pour that into a central database should the commission be established.
'We would have the opportunity to inform the public about how Illinois was participatory in the Underground Railroad,' she said Friday.
Meyers-Martin said she learned, through her work with the task force, that Sauk Trail, now a busy road in her district, had been part of the freedom seekers' network.
The commission would have a chair and 10 members appointed by the governor, with the commission's goals including furthering research into the trail taken by freedom seekers, establishing an online database and biographical information about key persons identified with the Underground Railroad, according to the legislation.
The commission would work with the Illinois State Board of Education to develop an educational program available to all public schools, develop standards and guidelines for historic markers and signage, and explore heritage tourism opportunties.
Larry McClellan, who has researched the Underground Railroad for many years and is president of the Midwest Underground Railroad Network, said work will start this fall on 'a very modest' statewide network devoted to the history of the Underground Railroad. That would get underway in anticipation of the statewide commission being created.
'We're glad for the progress but we know it will take time,' McClellan said.
He helped establish Governors State University in University Park, where he taught for 30 years and is emeritus professor of sociology and community studies.
In the mid-1970s, he was village president of University Park, then called Park Forest South, and has been on the boards of the Illinois State Historical Society and the Will County Historical Society.
McClellan said the general public is largely unaware of the Underground Railroad and said there is much misinformation out there.
'The thinking is the Underground Railroad was a system set up by almost all white abolitionists, and that is just not the reality,' he said. 'Men, women, Black families and white families have all kinds of experiences with freedom seekers.'
Tom Shepherd is secretary of the recently renamed Midwest Underground Railroad Network, previously the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project.
The group has new office space inside South Holland's First Reformed Church and has expanded its scope, Shepherd said.
He said the Underground Railroad and journeys of freedom seekers 'is a piece of history that largely gets ignored in this area' despite Chicago's South Side and south suburbs being identified as home to safe houses and waystations for freedom seekers.
'A lot of escaped slaves came through this area, and we want to bring that story to people,' Shepherd said.
For the past few years, his organization has worked with the Cook County Forest Preserve District to conduct Underground Railroad history tours in the region, and this year's first was scheduled to take place Saturday.
'We have identified a number of sites that were safe houses or stopovers,' on the trail, he said.
Shepherd said many participants say they had previously had little to no knowledge about the existence of the Underground Railroad. He said that, through the commission, there could be a way to increase tourism centered around the travels of freedom seekers and identified sites on Chicago's South Side and in the south suburbs.
'We have this story right here in our back yard,' Shepherd said. 'So many people are unaware of this history and unaware of this movement of people through our area.'
His organization will work this summer with interns from the University of Chicago and Purdue University to do more research on potential historical sites in Illinois and Indiana.
If approved by the General Assembly and signed into law, the state commission legislation would put the new commission under the purview of the state Department of Natural Resources.
Meyers-Martin said she is hopeful the DNR will include funding in its budget for the commission, but was unsure how much might be needed initially, as the commission gets established.
McClellan said that 'we don't need a lot of money, but we really need a central office to help nurture things along.'
mnolan@southtownstar.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
30 minutes ago
What it would take to convert a jet from Qatar into Air Force One to safely fly Trump
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump really wants to fly on an upgraded Air Force One — but making that happen could depend on whether he's willing to cut corners with security. As government lawyers sort out the legal arrangement for accepting a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, another crucial conversation is unfolding about modifying the plane so it's safe for the American president. Installing capabilities equivalent to the decades-old 747s now used as Air Force One would almost certainly consign the project to a similar fate as Boeing's replacement initiative, which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers Thursday that those security modifications would cost less than $400 million but provided no details. Satisfying Trump's desire to use the new plane before the end of his term could require leaving out some of those precautions, however. A White House official said Trump wants the Qatari jet ready as soon as possible while adhering to security standards. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not provide details on equipment issues or the timeline. Trump has survived two assassination attempts, and Iran allegedly also plotted to kill him, so he's well aware of the danger he faces. However, he seems willing to take some chances with security, particularly when it comes to communications. For example, he likes to keep his personal phone handy despite the threat of hacks. He boasted this week that the government got the jet 'for free,' saying, 'We need it as Air Force One until the other ones are done.' Here's a look at what it would take to make the Qatari plane into a presidential transport: Air Force One is the call sign for any plane that's carrying the president. The first aircraft to get the designation was a propeller-powered C-54 Skymaster, which ferried Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in 1945. It featured a conference room with a bulletproof window. Things are a lot more complicated these days. Boeing has spent years stripping down and rebuilding two 747s to replace the versions that have carried presidents for more than three decades. The project is slated to cost more than $5.3 billion and may not be finished before Trump leaves office. A 2021 report made public through the Freedom of Information Act outlines the unclassified requirements for the replacement 747s under construction. At the top of the list — survivability and communications. The government decided more than a decade ago that the new planes had to have four engines so they could remain airborne if one or two fail, said Deborah Lee James, who was Air Force secretary at the time. That creates a challenge because 747s are no longer manufactured, which could make spare parts harder to come by. Air Force One also has to have the highest level of classified communications, anti-jamming capabilities and external protections against foreign surveillance, so the president can securely command military forces and nuclear weapons during a national emergency. It's an extremely sensitive and complex system, including video, voice and data transmissions. James said there are anti-missile measures and shielding against radiation or an electromagnetic pulse that could be caused by a nuclear blast. 'The point is, it remains in flight no matter what,' she said. If the Qatari plane is retrofitted to presidential standards, it could cost $1.5 billion and take years, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that aren't publicly available. Testifying before Congress this week, Meink discounted such estimates, arguing that some of the costs associated with retrofitting the Qatari plane would have been spent anyway as the Air Force moves to build the long-delayed new presidential planes, including buying aircraft for training and to have spares available if needed. In response, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., said that based on the contract costs for the planes that the Air Force is building, it would cost about $1 billion to strip down the Qatar plane, install encrypted communications, harden its defenses and make other required upgrades. James said simply redoing the wiring means 'you'd have to break that whole thing wide open and almost start from scratch." Trump, as commander in chief, could waive some of these requirements. He could decide to skip shielding systems from an electromagnetic pulse, leaving his communications more vulnerable in case of a disaster but shaving time off the project. After all, Boeing has already scaled back its original plans for the new 747s. Their range was trimmed by 1,200 nautical miles, and the ability to refuel while airborne was scrapped. Paul Eckloff, a former leader of protection details at the Secret Service, expects the president would get the final say. 'The Secret Service's job is to plan for and mitigate risk," he said. "It can never eliminate it.' If Trump does waive some requirements, James said that should be kept under wraps because "you don't want to advertise to your potential adversaries what the vulnerabilities of this new aircraft might be.' It's unlikely that Trump will want to skimp on the plane's appearance. He keeps a model of a new Air Force One in the Oval Office, complete with a darker color scheme that echoes his personal jet instead of the light blue design that's been used for decades. Trump toured the Qatari plane in February when it was parked at an airport near Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort. Air Force chief of staff Gen. David Allvin was there, too. The U.S. official said the jet needs maintenance but not more than what would be expected of a four-engine plane of its complexity. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it would be irresponsible to put the president and national security equipment aboard the Qatari plane 'without knowing that the aircraft is fully capable of withstanding a nuclear attack.' 'It's a waste of taxpayer dollars,' she said. Meanwhile, Boeing's project has been hampered by stress corrosion cracks on the planes and excessive noise in the cabins from the decompression system, among other issues that have delayed delivery, according to a Government Accountability Office report released last year. Boeing referred questions to the Air Force, which said in a statement that it's working with the aircraft manufacturer to find ways to accelerate the delivery of at least one of the 747s. Even so, the aircraft will have to be tested and flown in real-world conditions to ensure no other issues. James said it remains to be seen how Trump would handle any of those challenges. 'The normal course of business would say there could be delays in certifications,' she said. 'But things seem to get waived these days when the president wants it.'
New York Times
31 minutes ago
- New York Times
Macron Will Visit Greenland This Month, Defying Trump
In a challenge to President's Trump's vow to take control of Greenland, President Emmanuel Macron of France will visit the enormous Arctic island on June 15 with the aim of 'contributing to the reinforcement of European sovereignty.' The French presidency announced the visit on Saturday, saying that Mr. Macron had accepted an invitation from Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland's prime minister, and Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, with whom it said Mr. Macron would discuss 'security in the North Atlantic and the Arctic.' Greenland, a semiautonomous island that is a territory of Denmark, a NATO ally, has been thrust in recent months from a remote, uneventful existence to the center of a geostrategic storm by Mr. Trump's repeated demands that it become part of the United States, one way or another. 'I think there's a good possibility that we could do it without military force,' Mr. Trump told NBC in March, but added that he would not 'take anything off the table.' Mr. Macron, who has seen in the various provocations directed at Europe by the Trump administration an opportunity for European assertion of its power, will be the first foreign head of state to go to Greenland since Mr. Trump embarked on his annexation campaign this year. JD Vance, the American vice president, visited Greenland in March. The trip was drastically scaled back and confined to a remote military base after the threat of local protests. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hamilton Spectator
36 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Mark Carney prepares for G7 summit littered with potential landmines
OTTAWA — The Charlevoix curse looms over Prime Minister Mark Carney as he gets ready to host leaders of the so-called Group of Seven major western economies. Carney's decision to invite India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 amid an ongoing RCMP investigation into Modi's government's alleged role in the assassination of a Canadian citizen has stirred sharp criticism at home, with the NDP demanding it be withdrawn. Meanwhile, world leaders are heading to Kananaskis, Alta. later this month with a wary eye on whether an intimate discussion among some of the most powerful politicians on the planet might erupt in a public display of disaffection. A show of unity on big geopolitical problems that holds longer than a few hours after President Donald Trump's participation will be seen as success after the American president in 2018 blew up a fragile consensus even before he left the last Canada-hosted G7 in Charlevoix, Que., later angrily insulting then-prime minister and G7 host Justin Trudeau. 'What we are looking for is to maintain the unity of the G7,' said French ambassador to Canada Michel Miraillet, a sentiment echoed by G7 ambassadors in Ottawa for Britain, Germany and Japan, who've been liaising on the preparations. Italy's ambassador deferred questions to Rome. Carney, who will lead the G7 meeting, has set an ambitious agenda but has taken steps to curb visible displays of tension. And amid a global tariff war launched by Trump, the fact the American president agreed to come to his first major international summit since returning to the White House for a bullish second term has been seen as a good omen by representatives of G7 countries who spoke to the Star. Each of the G7 leaders has met Trump individually in Washington. Carney made the trek to D.C., as has Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, France's Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Keir Starmer, and just this week German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Carney's summoning them all for two-and-a-half days of talks amid tight security in the remote forested location of Kananaskis (where a bear delayed a shuttle carrying G7 finance officials last month), and where the international media will mainly be kept at a distance — more than 40 kilometres away in Banff, or further in Calgary. Beyond the G7 group that includes European leaders Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, Carney has invited a slew of guests and stacked an agenda of talks around global economic security, Ukraine, the Middle East, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, as well as 'wildfires' — a diplomatic entrée into discussions on the environment and climate change. Most notably Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, blamed by Trump for prolonging, if not starting (a baseless assertion) the war with Russia, and Modi — who Carney says has agreed to a 'law enforcement dialogue' with Canada on the role of Indian agents in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder — will attend. A source told the Toronto Star it was among 'conditions' around the invitation. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and UN Secretary General António Guterres are coming. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum was expected to respond Friday or Monday to Carney's invitation, noting the invite wasn't to the full summit, but 'would only be for one day. So, we'll evaluate it and let you know.' Sheinbaum has not yet sat down in person with Trump, and it would be the first opportunity for Canada, U.S. and Mexico to talk face-to-face about Trump's upending of the trilateral free trade agreement, which Canada's business leaders have called for. Also participating are South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, host of this year's G20 summit who Trump confronted in the Oval Office last month, and Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, host of this year's UN climate change conference COP30, is expected to attend. Carney has instructed officials to shepherd a short, crisp chair's statement for the end, and there may be agreed-upon summaries of separate sessions, but sources who spoke on condition they not be identified said it's all still in flux. The flashpoints may be Ukraine — where Zelenskyy wants a strong, united G7 statement in support of his country's side in the war as he faces a U.S. president engaging directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin — the Middle East, and how to tackle the issue of climate change where the U.S. is at odds with others. In between formal sessions, many bilateral meetings are in the works among the gathered world leaders. Federal New Democrats and others argue Modi should not be among them, saying it is 'profoundly troubling and deeply hurtful to the Sikh community in Canada' that it says faces 'transnational repression' by Modi's government. Supriya Dwivedi, a former communications adviser to Justin Trudeau, said in an interview the invitation to Modi — despite his past 'vehement' opposition to co-operating with the Canadian investigation of the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar — 'sends the message that some Canadian lives matter more than other Canadian lives. And we're not willing to stand up for our most basic values, quite frankly, as a country as long as it can serve an economic interest.' A federal Liberal source said Carney had placed 'conditions' on the invitation extended to the Indian prime minister , and that Modi asked for time to decide on whether to accept the conditions, but the source did not know the details of their conversation. Carney on Friday suggested Modi agreed to co-operate with the Canadian investigation, though Modi did not include that in his public statement. Carney said the Indian prime minister agreed to 'continue law enforcement dialogue. So there's been some progress on that. It recognizes issues of accountability.' Carney said Modi and others should be part of 'important discussions on energy, security, on digital future, critical minerals amongst others, and partnerships actually in building infrastructure in the emerging and developing world.' India, the fifth largest economy in the world is 'at the heart of a number of those supply chains,' said Carney, 'so it makes sense.' U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, in an interview with the Star, said Trump's priorities for the G7 are the same priorities the president articulates for his administration. 'We want to resolve the (Russian) war in Ukraine and hopefully the G7 can develop, and we can implement, a successful strategy to end the conflict in Ukraine. We need a strategy to confront China, because that inherently is a threat to the G7, to all of us ... we want to deal with the fentanyl crisis. 'If we can come out of the G7 and identify a common strategy on those kinds of issues, that we could come back in a year and see progress on all of those, on economic growth, and then you throw in defence spending and these kinds of things, that would be a wildly successful G7.'
