The Underground Railroad

A monumental reimagining of American history, Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize–winning 2016 novel is a harrowing and rhapsodic journey through a still-echoing past. Weaving together historical fiction with moments of magical realism, The Underground Railroad is a full sensory immersion into the world of Cora (Thuso Mbedu), who, fleeing slavery, embarks on a treacherous quest for freedom—and is menaced by violence, supported by a clandestine community fighting for liberation, and haunted by the people she loses along the way. With images of searing power and stirring poetry, Jenkins delivers an epic saga of survival and resilience that pushes the limited-series format to new heights of cinematic transcendence.

William Paul Quinn's untold story is a missing piece of American history. His deep but little-known involvement with the Underground Railroad is one of the most fascinating subplots of a remarkable life. More than any other prelate of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, or AME Church, Quinn (1788-1873) guided the faithful throughout the perilous pre-Civil War years, sanctioning escape from slavery while avoiding suspicion and, by all appearances, upholding the law. Quinn helped his followers navigate the hardships of slavery, as well as the demands of freedom in the post-Civil War world.

How staff at a luxury hotel in Niagara Falls, NY helped ferry enslaved people to freedom. Archeology proves that just below the surface there is always more than meets the eye. A dig at the site of the the once-renowned Cataract House Hotel in Niagara Falls, New York is no exception.

Places of the Underground Railroad: A Geographical Guide presents an overview of the various sites that comprised this unique road to freedom, with entries chosen to represent all regions of the United States and Canada.