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Underground Railroad topic for museum speaker Saturday

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Hoosiers risked jail time (and their lives) if you chose to help escaped slaves find their way through Putnam County to safety in the years preceding the Civil War.

Yet some brave souls in our county involved themselves in the work of the Underground Railroad network.

Due to the need for secrecy, very little was trusted to the written word, therefore solid physical evidence of the railroad here has not yet been found. Oral history does abound.

Several surviving buildings are rumored to have been hiding places or stops on the railroad. They include the Sinnet home near Russellville, the former Mary Allison Children's Home, and a small building in Putnamville.

On Saturday, April 9 at 11 a.m., the Putnam County Museum on North Jackson Street will host one of the leading experts on this topic. The public is invited to hear Jeannie Regan-Dinius of the Department of Natural Resources speak about the Underground Railroad in Indiana.

A graduate of both Ball State and IUPUI, she is a delightful speaker having spent years working with historians and volunteers throughout Indiana doing primary research on this fascinating topic.

As we celebrate Indiana's Bicentennial, take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the role played by Putnam County.

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  • Growing up in and around Greencastle in the 1960's I had heard that part of the underground railroad existed West of Blackstock stadium where the old West College was for female students. There was supposed to be a tunnel where people could be hidden.

    -- Posted by donantonioelsabio on Wed, Apr 6, 2016, at 9:19 PM

  • There were 7 or 8 families that settled in the Portland Mills community in the 1820s and 1830s whose descendants still live in the area. They all have heard that a brick home near the banks of the Raccoon Creek was a part of the underground railroad. Unfortunately the home was in the lake bed of the "new" Raccoon Lake and had to be demolished.

    -- Posted by msromine on Thu, Apr 7, 2016, at 8:41 AM
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