Onward to Chicacgo

Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Illinois Larry A. McClellan

“Challenging the narrative that the Underground Railroad was mainly the work of white abolitionists, Larry A. McClellan’s determined research into local archives reveals detailed stories of the Black activists and freedom seekers who shared the work of combating slavery in the United States.”—Robin Kelly, Illinois congresswoman

Uncovering stories of the freedom network in northeastern Illinois

Decades before the Civil War, Illinois’s status as a free state beckoned enslaved people, particularly those in Kentucky and Missouri, to cross porous river borders and travel toward new lives. While traditional histories of the Underground Railroad in Illinois start in 1839, and focus largely on the romanticized tales of white men, Larry A. McClellan reframes the story, not only introducing readers to earlier freedom seekers, but also illustrating that those who bravely aided them were Black and white, men and women. McClellan features dozens of individuals who made dangerous journeys to reach freedom as well as residents in Chicago and across northeastern Illinois who made a deliberate choice to break the law to help.