The Film: Interview Transcripts: Charles Blockson

Charles Blockson, historian on
children and the Undergound Railroad
Children were a part of the Underground Railroad, too.  Oftentimes, they would drive the wagon, or help their parents with the wagon as they helped the runaway slave escaped from one station to another.  There is an incident that occurred in Plymouth Meeting, located in Montgomery County.  Plymouth Meeting was a predominantly Quaker area, noted for the Underground Railroad activities.  Many of the homes are still standing, perhaps one of the best places in the country where at least seven or eight homes are standing today. 

One family told me many years ago about a story that was handed down from their parents.  A group of children were playing outside, making a snow fort. It was winter time, and it was the kind of snow fort they could hide in. All at once, they heard this ruckus coming down Germantown Pike near Butler’s Pike, Plymouth Meeting. There was an enslaved person and his wife and a child, and the children said come quickly, because they knew what to do when they came across a person who was escaping.  Their parents had told them.  So they said, come, come, come! And they hid them in the ice house.  This is a wonderful, true story.

 One night a sleepy 12-year-old boy took over for his father who had become ill. He was to take a group of escaped slaves, put them on a horse and wagon, and take the slaves to the next station.  Station stops on the Underground Railroad were easily five or ten miles apart.  As this young boy was going along at night, he fell asleep, but the horse knew where to go.  He didn’t wake up until the slaves were unloaded at their destination. 

 These children knew that slavery was evil.  They even had children’s books that were called “An Anti-Slavery Alphabet,” where the pages read “A is for Abolitionists,” “B is for Bloodhound,” “K is for Kidnapper”. . . they sold them at anti-slavery fairs.

his personal journey

slave revolts

slavery and the Liberty Bell

Pennsylvania’s UGRR

preserving UGRR sites

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