National Park Service Adds Mitchelville Freedom Park To The Network Of Freedom

Hilton Head Island has been recognized as the only place in South Carolina for its historical importance in the Underground Railroad with three areas of membership: The Heritage Library, Mitchelville and Fort Howell, which is located within Mitchelville.
Mitchelville Park Entrance
Photo Credit: LMGS

By Luana M. Graves Sellars

The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998 was passed to enable the U.S. National Park Service to create a national Underground Railroad program called the Network of Freedom, which coordinates the preservation of local historical places, artifacts, museums and programs associated with the Underground Railroad into a cohesive collection of accessible national stories and locations. Hilton Head Island has been recognized as the only place in South Carolina for its historical importance in the Underground Railroad with three areas of membership: The Heritage Library, Mitchelville and Fort Howell, which is located within Mitchelville. The following are excerpts from the Network of Freedom explaining the rationale of the project and the importance of Mitchelville’s inclusion in the network.

Road to Freedom
By Sonja Griffin Evans

For more information about Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park, the first self-governed town for freedmen, the Lowcountry Heritage Trail and Reconstruction Era National Monument in Beaufort, SC or Beaufort County |Ground Zero for Our Nation’s Heritage Tourism

© Lowcountry Gullah LLC and www.lowcountrygullah.com, 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Lowcountry Gullah and www.lowcountrygullah.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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