The U.S. Postal Service unveiled several stamps honoring the ingenuity, bravery, and resilience of 10 courageous men and women who helped guide enslaved people to freedom via the network of secret routes and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.
According to a press release, the set of 20 stamps features freedom seekers and those who helped others escape. On the reverse side, a map illustrates the broad paths and an explanation of the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom from the National Park Service.
“For many enslaved African-Americans, the Underground Railroad was their only hope to escape the brutality of slavery,” said USPS Board of Governors member Ronald A. Stroman.
Catherine Coffin
Coffin and her husband, Levi, relocated to Newport, Wayne County — now the municipality of Fountain City, Indiana — in 1826. Their home was near important escape routes connecting multiple cities to freedom in the North and Canada. Historians believe the Coffins helped about 2,000 African-Americans escape slavery via the Underground Railroad over 20 years, providing them with food, clothes, and shelter. She died on May 22, 1881, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Frederick Douglass
Douglass was enslaved for many years until, on Sept. 3, 1838, he fled under the pretense of being a free Black sailor and headed for New York City. After relocating to New Bedford, Massachusetts, he started attending abolitionist gatherings and soon rose to prominence as one of the most well-known Black men in history, renowned for his speeches opposing slavery and promoting women’s suffrage. He held several political appointments — including U.S. ambassador to Haiti, Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia (Thomas), and U.S. Marshal — before dying of a heart attack at age 77.
Thomas Garrett
At the age of 24, Garrett managed to free a kidnapped Black woman headed for slavery in the South. From then on, he became best known for his ceaseless…
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