Looking for Lincoln presents the travelling exhibit, Journey to Freedom Illinois’ Underground Railroad. The courageous stories of freedom seekers, and the multi-racial conductors who assisted them, are highlighted in this new exhibit about the Underground Railroad in Illinois. Learn about the network of people, who often at great risk to themselves, collaborated to assist those searching for freedom and dignity.
Many Illinois residents were part of the courageous effort to assist freedom seekers. In the exhibit, viewers will learn more about the communities from Cairo through Springfield to Quincy and Chicago. that were stops on the Underground Railroad. Other featured communities are Brooklyn/Freedom Village, Miller Grove, Rocky Fork, Galesburg, Mount Hope, Jacksonville and New Philadelphia.

The exhibit also tells stories of freedom seekers like John and Eliza Little, who traveled barefoot from Tennessee through Illinois to Canada to gain their freedom, or conductors like Henry and Mary Ann King Brown who helped slaves to freedom in the Springfield, Quincy and Galena areas.
The exhibit is accompanied by educational materials for classrooms, first-person interpretive videos, and more information about some of the courageous individuals who participated in the Underground Railroad. Where imagery was not available, custom illustrations were produced, bringing a face and personality to these important stories.
The exhibit will travel throughout the state of Illinois, helping highlight this nationwide, but highly personal story that is integral to our state and national history.
Everyone everywhere deserves freedom and dignity. The Underground Railroad was a network of people who took risks to struggle for these basic rights, for themselves and for others. The Underground Railroad was rooted in a fight against slavery in the United States.
It was principled.
It was organized.
It was multi-racial.
And it all begins with the choice of an enslaved person to resist their bonds and escape to freedom. In this case, to Illinois and beyond.
The exhibit was produced by The Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, also known as Looking for Lincoln. The heritage area covers a vast swath of Central Illinois, and is commissioned to tell the stories of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, which includes the stories of freedom seekers moving through the area.
