AASL (FIX)

By Katie Williams
Collegian Editor
October 10, 2007

She’d been running for days. Hiding in bushes, avoiding roads and praying that the shadows would keep her concealed. Wearily, she fought her way through the night, on swollen feet, her tattered clothes barely keeping out the wind. She prayed that the directions she was given were accurate.

And then, there it is, appearing in the darkness as if by divine intervention: The Johnson House. A beacon of hope standing tall against the tyranny of slavery.

The Johnson House today is both a National Historic Site and a museum dedicated to the Underground Railroad, but in the late 1800s, it was one of the most crucial stopping-off points for runaway slaves. Located on Germantown Avenue, this location was a stop between the slave states of Maryland and Delaware, and the freedom that lay in northern New York or Canada.

The African-American Students League will be hosting a bus trip to this historic place on Oct. 13.

“It’s very important to see this place”, said AASL vice president Kate Knowles, a senior communication major. “It will give students a chance to experience the culture of the period, and also to broaden their horizons and give them more information about the Railroad and slavery.”

AASL is running the bus trip, which leaves from the Hayman Center at 12:30 p.m, and should return around 2 p.m.

According to the House’s Web site, it was built some time between 1765 and 1768 by Jacob Knorr, who is responsible for designing many other Germantown landmarks.

The Underground Railroad is not the only historic event that this house was involved with. A Quaker family, the Johnson’s were pacifists. However, the house still suffered some permanent damage during the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Germantown.

As abolitionists, the family was involved with many African-American support groups, before deciding to support the Underground Railroad in the 1850s.

“I’ve been to concentration camps,” Knowles said, “and I feel like this is somewhat of the same thing. You don’t really understand what these people went through until you’ve been there. The runaways and the family were both risking their lives by participating in the Railroad, and I feel like students can get a better appreciation of that by going there, as opposed to learning about it from a textbook. It becomes much more real once you can see something.”

Had the Johnson family been caught, they would have faced fines and imprisonment. The runaways would have been returned to the slave states, where it is likely that they would suffer even harsher treatment by their owners.

In order to make the runaways’ stay more comfortable, the family renovated their attic so that more light and air could get in, and made sleeping quarters. Runaways also stayed in barns, the springhouse and other buildings on the large property.

The house was almost demolished in 1918 in order to build a factory. The Women’s Club of Germantown bought the property, and then turned it over to a historical trust when their membership dropped.

Currently, the house hosts a number of different events aside from just tours. One can attend workshops, presentations and even jazz benefit nights on the grounds.

Anyone interested in attending the trip should sign up in the Programming Center before 1 p.m., Oct 12.

williamsk1@lasalle.edu