THE FREEDOM CORRIDOR FOCUSES ON the nineteenth-century struggle to free enslaved African peoples in the United States. But it is more than that, including the continuing struggles to end racism and all forms of oppression.
There are many key actors in this history. The Freedom Corridor is anchored by Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, and Frank and Lucy McWorter. Other remarkable people were here or nearby, including Emily Logan; Dred Scott; Elijah and Owen Lovejoy; John Jones; Edward Beecher; Richard Eells, Barryman Barnett, and Charley; and John and Mary Meachum.
New Philadelphia as a national park establishes the national significance of this nineteenth-century abolitionist village established by Frank and Lucy McWorter. The congressional act in 2022 led to this effort to expand our focus to the diverse communities that make up the Freedom Corridor—Springfield, Jacksonville, Pittsfield, Barry, Hannibal, and Quincy—for starters. Our goal is to rethink American history, to include voices...
