Underground to Canada

by Barbara Smucker

  Greenwood, Barbara, The Last Safe House: A Story of the Underground Railroad, A novel about the relationship between a black girl who is escaping slavery and the white girl whose house she stays in. Also includes factual details about the history of the Underground Railroad.

  Lester, Julius, To be a Slave A classic book for young people about the history of slavery, based on first-hand accounts.

  Levine, Ellen, Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, An illustrated story, based on a real event, about a slave who travelled the underground railroad in a crate.

  Prince, Bryan, I Came as a Stranger: The Underground Railroad An illustrated history of the Underground Railroad that provides important information about what happened to escaped slaves after they arrived in Canada.

  Shadd, Adrienne, Afua Cooper and Karolyn Smardz Frost, The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto!

  An illustrated book focusing on what happened to runaway slaves after they arrived in Canada, with emphasis on those who settled in Toronto.

  Websites

  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/

  A website from National Geographic with an interactive game involving an escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad.

  http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/special/mlk/gourd2.html

  A web page explaining the meaning behind the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” as it led slaves to freedom. “Follow the Drinking Gourd” is mentioned in the epigraph by Martin Luther King Jr. that appears at the beginning of Underground to Canada.

  http://blackhistorycanada.ca/

  A good site exploring all aspects of the history of black people in Canada.

  http://www.pc.gc.ca/canada/proj/cfcugrr/index_e.asp

  A major site by Parks Canada, emphasizing the Underground Railroad’s presence and impact in Canada, with details on related National Historic Sites.

  http://www.freedomtrail.ca/home.html A highly illustrated site with loads of information on the places where ex-slaves settled in Ontario, including St. Catharines.

  http://www.waynet.org/levicoffin/

  A site with interesting photos of Levi Coffin’s house in Fountain City, Indiana. Although this is not the house portrayed in Underground to Canada, which was in Cincinnati (where the Coffins moved in 1847), this site gives a good idea of how the Coffins hid escaping slaves.

  http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/underground/ugrrhome.htm

  A terrific site from the United States National Parks Service with details of historic sites in the U.S.A. that are associated with the Underground Railroad.

  http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=40530

  A Library and Archives Canada biography of Alexander Ross.