When I posted a blog on "I wonder how white people feel when we call them honkies" this is really where I was coming from. It's deeper than name calling, it's name calling people who placed their lives on the line. Should we not acknowledge and remember them? Or are we so angry and self-righteous that we cast aside their tremendous efforts? Should we say Barack Obama is OUR President? Do we expect from him , to represent our varied and divided platforms? or are our platfomrs the same as the mainstream?
My stay in Ohio to work on the campaign, was part of an "underground" network, or maybe I am one of the few that made the conneciton.
Pennsylvania's First National Historic Landmark of the Underground Railroad
The LeMoyne House in the City of Washington is Pennsylvania's first National Historic Landmark of the Underground Railroad. Only about six or seven other such sites exist in the entire United States.
The stately stone house, located at 49 East Maiden Street in downtown Washington, Pennsylvania, was built in 1812 by John Julius LeMoyne, the father of Francis Julius LeMoyne. Both father and son were practicing physicians, but it was the courageous Francis Julius LeMoyne who, despite the strict Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, risked his personal freedom and fortune to do what he knew was morally right — take a stand against the institution of slavery. This successful 19th Century doctor, reformer and builder of the first crematory in the western hemisphere, opened his home and properties as stops along the Underground Railroad, the series of safe hiding places for runaway slaves as they trudged north on their precarious journey to Canada and freedom.
The father of five daughters (and three sons!), he also believed in and promoted education for women, specifically helping to found the Washington Female Seminary. Always a supporter of education, this successful physician funded several chairs at Washington College (now known as the prestigious Washington & Jefferson College), started Citizens Library, a free public library for the people of Washington and neighboring communities, and founded LeMoyne College (now known as LeMoyne-Owen College) in Memphis, Tennessee, predominantly for the education of blacks. The LeMoyne House is now a museum filled with period artifacts and dedicated to Dr. LeMoyne's memory.
Posted By: Marta Fernandez
Friday, October 24th 2008 at 10:53PM
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