About
Documentary focus
The focus of this archive is the people and places of the Underground Railroad in Michigan. There is a surprisingly limited amount of material taught by schools on the topic, considering that more than three-fourths of "passengers" of the Underground Railroad passed through Michigan (Leach 1988). As a result, there is not enough respect paid to the dangerous lengths those escaping enslavement went through to reach freedom, as well as the dangers conductors faced in aiding them with their escape.
The goal of the archive is not only to enrich the local history of Michigan, but to bring to life little known stories of courage and tenacity. According to Punzalan and Marsh, “archival scholars have also advocated for archivists to consciously adopt reparative actions that redress decades of undermining historical accountability and social justice in archival spaces” (2022). In a way, this archive upholds to the ideas of community archives and makes them further accessible while relying on information that is established in this collective archive. For example, we have looked through the Lenawee Historical Society’s community archive in order to find addresses and names of known conductors on the Railroad. In making sure that these few documented stories are made accessible, we are hoping that it will help to add a level of engagement with another aspect of American history that is typically not discussed at length.
The archival material we are working with showcases sensitive and great struggles of those that were held in captivity and risked everything to flee. Their stories are the most important to this archive and the reason behind our motivations. We must showcase the folks that have gone unknown when it comes to this portion of American history. However, we acknowledge that there could still be missing narratives or parts to the stories told on this archive, as Hartman mentions the difficulty of finding a voice for the historically voiceless (2008).
Archival concepts & practices
While compiling the materials for this archive, we were acutely aware of archival practices around copyright and donor agreements. Most of the items that our group has encountered and desire to include in our archive meet the appropriate standards set by relevant legislation and SAA guidelines. For example, items found in online archives by the Ohio History Connection are restricted to research purposes only, per the claim on the website (n.d.). However, upon closer examination, we found that this archive's purposes were covered by educational fair use, as it is for educational purposes at the University of Michigan. It was good archival practice to double check and ensure that we are within the bounds of the appropriate copyright laws.
Criteria for selection
The authors primarily found material in the many collections available at the University of Michigan and online. Materials were found and accessed at the Bentley Historical Library and Hatcher Graduate Library. Initially, we were concerned that we would not be able to find very many material still in existence as the Underground Railroad was a clandestine network whose secrecy was paramount. While this factor contributed to the lack of primary sources on the topic, we found many books and collections that provided a wealth of material. In order to provide a cohesive narrative in the archive, we had to narrow it down to material that could be linked to a geographic location on the map module.
Target user groups
The target primary user group for this online archive is middle school and high school students, around the ages of 11 to 18 years old. The goal is to provide tangible and relevant context about the Underground Railroad and Michigan's role in the network as a supplement to what students may be learning in the classroom. We hope that students can find the archive an immersive way to contextualize historical events by seeing familiar locations and records that pertain to an important period in American history.
Middle and high school students need this archive to be engaging, especially if they are accessing it for homework or other schoolwork. To keep the attention of a younger audience, we have included a mapping module that will help students visualize the location of various items referenced in the archive. Additionally, it is important to present the material in a manner that is easy to understand so that the students are still learning but not discouraged or distracted by an overload of text or metadata.
Some secondary users of this archive are teachers of students in the primary user group and local historians seeking to know more about Michigan's history or the Underground Railroad in general.
Perspectives
We wanted to showcase the voices of as many people who had involvement in the Underground Railroad as survivors, conductors, or agents as possible. Putting the Survivors page directly after the Welcome page was a way to highlight the real people that made this journey. We felt that when students see the actual faces of survivors, it would make the topic all the more real for them.
Showcasing Black engagement in the Underground Railroad was also important. Scholarship over the last century have shown a significant lack of their voice in storytelling (Mull, 5). For example, fugitive slave autobiographies were discounted by historians until the last half of the 20th century (Frost et al., 251). Meanwhile, whites who assisted freedom-seekers were the first to have their stories historicized and published (Mull, 5). This downplayed the courage of African Americans and we wanted to acknowledge these issues of power and privilege by highlighting Black engagement.
About the authors
All of the team members involved in the creation of this archive are Master of Science in Information students studying archiving and library studies. Each member of the team brought their own set of skills that helped to make this project succeed. While this was primarily a collaborative effort, members did their research individually online and visited collections around the University of Michigan. The items uploaded to the archive were discussed and added collaboratively.