WAVERLY, Pa. — While a home in Lackawanna County may look ordinary on the outside, in the 1800s, it was one of the safe havens for people traveling along the Underground Railroad.
This is just one of the many stops on the Waverly Community House's Underground Railroad Walking Tour.
“We knew there was a rich history of the free slave movement right here in Waverly and in northeast Pennsylvania. It was home to many abolitionists and many movers and shakers of changing the laws and we wanted to bring that to life,” said Maria Wilson, Waverly Community House executive director.
The walking tour takes visitors around Waverly's historic district, showing how this part of Lackawanna County played an integral part in the emancipation of enslaved people.
“Here in northeastern Pennsylvania, people don't often see a connection to the holiday of Juneteenth. It's lost on us as to why the holiday is important. One thing that our program tries to do is try to connect Waverly's history to the ideas of emancipation,” said E.J. Murphy, project coordinator
Murphy, a teacher, and historian, shares stories of how so many self-emancipated people escaped to Waverly in the 1800s, giving the people on tour a more personal connection to Juneteenth.
“For me, it's really trying to connect these national, big-picture issues that we are all aware of. We are aware of the Underground Railroad. We are aware of the Civil War. But a lot of people don't know how it connects to us,” said Murphy.
The hope is that visitors leave the hour-long tour with a new appreciation of the rich local history that helped make Juneteenth a national holiday.
“There are a lot of things that we talk about on this tour, not just the Underground Railroad, but other pieces of history that we connect that to that people have no idea about,“ said Murphy.
If you would like to go on a walking tour, you can come to the Waverly Community House every Wednesday at 2 p.m.
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