Cincinnati, OH: National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

After familiarizing ourselves with the downtown Cincinnati area (written about here), we began our weekend of sight-seeing with what would turn out to be the highlight of our visit: the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

This brand-new museum (opened in 2004) is state-of-the-art and clearly built in-line with many other world-class museums.  Located on the revitalized Cincinnati riverfront, the museum features several levels of exhibits covering all aspects of freedom.  The building that houses the museum, which was built specifically for this purpose, is eye-catching and in itself a work of art.  Along with the rest of the Cincinnati riverfront & downtown area, I was very impressed!

The main lobby was quite impressive

After purchasing our tickets on the ground level, we proceeded up the gorgeous center staircase to the main lobby of the exhibit galleries.  This entry lobby is huge, features an all glass wall overlooking the river towards Kentucky, and is highlighted by The Slave Pen.  The Slave Pen is a real 1800s structure that was moved from its Kentucky home about 60 miles from Cincinnati.  The building was used to house slaves in transport, and has been reconstructed and restored for visitors to experience at the museum.


The Slave Pen

After viewing the powerful Slave Pen we moved on to our first exhibit gallery, ESCAPE! Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad.  The exhibit began with a wall of quotes from those that were enslaved, which I found to be powerful words that set the tone of the exhibit.







Further setting the stage for this exhibit, we watched a brief video of a re-enacted slave escape towards the Underground Railroad, which set the stage for the information presented in the various exhibits to come. 

The gallery included a recreated house showing how slaves would hide under the house floor, a wagon showing how slaves would hide under false floors, and a plethora of displays on how slaves & freedom fighters would work together to resist slavery and free those enslaved.

Next we headed up to the third level and started with the eye-opening exhibit Invisible: Slavery Today.  Before visiting this museum I had never thought of slavery still existing today, but as I would come to learn, it certainly does in many forms.  This exhibit, the first of its kind in the world to focus solely on slavery today, was themed as an old warehouse emulating the ambiance that many trafficked slaves would encounter during holding and transport.  It certainly had a grim feel to it, which was pushed on by the horrifying stories of real people who endured slavery in the modern era.

The exhibit ends with a more hopeful exhibit highlighting those that are fighting slavery today.  These exhibits showcased the people and organizations that are leading the way to ending slavery around the world, and detailed some very inspiring stories.

Although this gallery was quite saddening, it was both highly informative and hands-on.  The combination of stories from real people, aptly appropriate ambiance of the gallery, and hands-on activities really made for a top-notch exhibit that truly changed how slavery is framed in my mind.


Hands-on activities

Modern day Abolitionists

Next up was a temporary exhibit Music of Change: Hymns, Blues & Rock which showcased the artifacts and stories music has played within social movements.  The exhibit concludes with a dedicated children’s area; in fact, we found numerous hands-on activities for kids throughout this museum, which certainly helped make it a great visit for our toddler as well as mom and dad!


Playing the drums in a dedicated children's area

The final exhibit gallery on our visit was From Slavery to Freedom, which provided a comprehensive history of slavery from its beginnings to its end in the United States.  This was a very large exhibit with many elaborately themed areas covering who the slaves where, where they came from, what types of work they did, and gave a glimpse into their daily lives.  Substantial information on slavery within American history was covered throughout. 


One of the many exhibits in From Slavery to Freedom

Each exhibit featured a completely different look and feel, and offered a wealth of new information (new to me anyway).  Certainly this will be a museum we will have to return to one day when our toddler is learning about these periods of American history, as this exhibit did a fantastic job of educating us about the history of slavery in America.

 

From Slavery to Freedom was probably the most impressive exhibit in the museum, and is on par with exhibits at other leading history museums around the world.  However, in looking back and reflecting on our visit to this amazing museum, I found Invisible: Slavery Today to be the most effective museum exhibit I have visited in quite some time.  It certainly changed my view of slavery; maybe I was a bit naïve, but until visiting this exhibit I had never thought of slavery still existing today, nor did I know how prevalent it was around the world.

We ended our visit to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center by stepping outside on their 3rd level terrace to view an enduring flame and to look out over the river.  It was certainly a memorable experience, and a museum I know we will visit again when our son is older and can learn from it himself.  Although the topics covered within this museum can be very somber, they were highly educational and eye-opening while also concluding with stories and exhibits focused on hope.