Posted on Fri, Jul. 3, 2009
Seizing Freedom, a new exhibit recounting the story of the Underground Railroad in Philadelphia and the enslaved people who worked and fought to free themselves, opens tonight at 5:30 at the Independence Visitor Center, Sixth and Market Streets.
The exhibit will remain on view for a year and then move to classrooms at Independence National Historical Park for use by school groups, park officials said.
The exhibit discusses important black abolitionists, such as Robert Purvis, and also notes the prominent roles played by park buildings in the American struggle with slavery. Independence Hall, for instance, was the site of fugitive slave trials well into the 1850s.
The visitor center is open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tonight through Sunday, it is open until 8 p.m. - Stephan Salisbury
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