ELIZABETH CITY — The Underground Railroad is often imagined as a trail of briar infested backroads and secret cellars traveled by bondsmen at night seeking freedom from slavery. That was not the only route to escape. The North Carolina Women of the Underground Railroad Symposium, Oct. 5 -7, will examine two courageous Tar Heel women who traveled by land or sea on the freedom road. Registration is required and free; availability is limited.

The Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City hosts the symposium a part of its 50^th-year anniversary celebration. It focuses on Harriet Jacobs, who escaped from slavery in Edenton by boat to Philadelphia, and Hannah Crafts, who escaped from Murfreesboro and traveled overland while disguised as a boy. The symposium will also examine the work of Harriet Tubman, the best-known conductor on the Underground Railroad (UGRR), who escaped from Maryland.

Jacobs and Crafts each wrote of their life experiences. Jacobs penned the semi-autobiographical “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself” which was published in 1861. Hannah Bond took the name Hannah Crafts and wrote possibly the first novel by an African American woman, “The Bondswoman’s Narrative,” published in 2002 after discovery by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.

Harriet Tubman scholar and author of a biography of Tubman, historian Kate Clifford Larson, will speak on Tubman and the Underground Railroad. The research of Greg Hecimovich was pivotal in validating the written account of Hannah Crafts and he will speak on her life and experiences. Documentary editor Mary Maillard is working on an edition of the Skinner Family Papers that documents the life of Harriet Jacobs. Maillard will speak on Jacobs and the Underground Railroad.

Those morning sessions on day one will be followed in the afternoon with a roundtable discussion of the dominant role of freedom-seeking women in the Underground Railroad.

Dr. Rex Ellis, associate director for curatorial affairs at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, will speak on the Underground Railroad from a national perspective at the evening session.

Day two of the symposium will examine maroon communities in the Great Dismal Swamp. Runaways would often seek refuge in this virtually impenetrable environment, some staying for a lifetime. Mississippi State University graduate student Christy Davenport will address this element of the Underground Railroad. A roundtable discussion will follow to consider this and other aspects of new scholarship around the Underground Railroad, and work yet to be done on the subject.

The final day of the symposium will conclude with morning tours of venues related to the UGRR, including the Great Dismal Swamp, Historic Murfreesboro, Edenton, Elizabeth City and other locations.

Attendees must register for the free symposium. Teachers receive one CEU credit for attending the entire symposium. The N.C. General Assembly, N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Friends of the Museum of the Albemarle, and the Fairfield Inn and Suites have provided support necessary for this program.

This symposium is the last in a series of year-long events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Museum of the Albemarle. As a center for local research, the museum is pleased to support new findings about the Underground Railroad in northeastern North Carolina. The museum staff welcomes scholars to use its artifact collection and research library.

For additional information on the symposium, please call Bill McCrae at 919-807-7889. For more information on the museum please call 252-335-1453. The Museum of the Albemarle is part of the Division of State History Museums within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. It is located at 501 S. Water St., Elizabeth City, and serves 13 counties in northeastern North Carolina.

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state’s natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. NCDNCR’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state’s history, conserving the state’s natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.

NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette’s Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please call 919- 807-7300 or visit www.ncdcr.gov.