| Portland's History
Celebrated as Freedom Trail Opens 
By Ramona du
Houx
The torch
reigniting Maine’s historic connection with the abolitionist movement was lit last
July when Portland’s Freedom Trail was officially opened by Governor Baldacci and
Emmy-nominated actress/writer Victoria Rowell.
Several
descendants of Portland antislavery activists attended the ceremony, including historian
Robert Greene, who got involved with the Maine Freedom Trail project through researching
his own family history.
 When slaves escaped and boarded ships to northern ports, their
fate was left in the hands of people in underground communities that were brave enough to
make a stand against slavery. Portland and towns throughout Maine had those kinds of
communities. The city, at that time, was divided on the issue, and those involved in the
Underground Railroad faced huge penalties if caught harboring a slave—the runaway
slave often faced death.
The trail is
based on years of research by local historian Wells Staley-Mays who talked of how a slave
would be stowed away on a ship and then land in Portland. The first place they would go
was the secondhand clothes shop, then a safe house or the Mariners’ Church. While 36
sites have been identified in Portland, most are no longer standing because of the fire
that swept through the city in 1866. The 1.6-mile walking tour has 13 historic markers
that tell of the importance of each site, and organizers would like to add seven more
bronze-plated markers.
The markers
tell the story of the individuals and families involved in the abolitionist movement as
well as Maine’s unique African American educational, religious, cultural, and social
experience. \
The trail will
preserve the history of the antislavery movement and encourage discourse about global
freedom movements today.
"We’re
not hiding behind myth or legend," said Rachel Talbot Ross, Maine’s NAACP
representative and one of the PFT project directors. "This is about looking at our
collective history and dealing with the horrors of slavery."
"I’m
looking forward to the dialogue that should come from this," said Dawud Ummuh,
another project director.
"This day
has been about the past, the present, and the future," said Greene, who’s family
owned a barbershop where slaves, on the road to freedom, received a ‘new look,’
"and honoring those who have paved our way to here."
About 300
people paraded through the Old Port with the governor, Rowell, and Mayor Nicholas
Mavodones, Jr., with Staley-Mays leading them from site to site with traditional African
music being played alongside them.
"The
Freedom Trail is about educating and engaging our community, and all those who visit the
city," said Governor Baldacci co-chair of the project. "We should all be aware
and inspired by our history of supporting freedom, tolerance and equality. The Portland
Freedom Trail has inspired a sense of community pride and interest in the history of
African Americans in Maine and in our ongoing commitment to justice and human
rights."
The Portland Freedom Trail is
the result of the work of a diverse group of dedicated individuals and organizations,
mostly volunteers. It’s a truly community-driven enterprise. Maine Freedom Trails,
Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a network of marked sites
across the state, collaborating with other efforts to preserve Maine's African American
history and culture. There are approximately 75 possible Underground Railroad sites
currently identified in Maine. Organizers hope to link all the sites together to have a
statewide trail which would then link up to neighboring states and Canada.
Rachel Talbot Ross,
dedicated to preserving Maine's African American, history is a PFT project director.
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