Learn about the Underground Railroad in Chautauqua County through a new website, map, and film.
The film Underground Chautauqua: Three Freedom Trails premiered at the Fredonia Opera House on November 10, 2022.
Showcasing the persons identified as anti-slavery operatives in Chautauqua County, NY, the film utilizes the Chautauqua County Anti-slavery Map to provide an aerial tour of three overlapping freedom trail systems which stretched through the area.
Narrators are Nicholas Gunner, developer of the interactive map in 2013; Dr. Saundra Liggins and Dr. Jennifer Hildebrand, developers of Underground Railroad coursework at SUNY Fredonia; and Chautauqua County native Elijah Toro.
The film was written, produced, and directed by Wendy Straight, MA, PLS (retired), a research colleague of SUNY Fredonia Emeritus Dr. Douglas H. Shepard and SUNY Oswego Emerita Judith Wellman.
"The Underground Railroad is often mythologized, but there exists no documentation of hidden rooms or tunnels in Chautauqua County. Instead, there is abundant documentation of hundreds of anti-slavery households." -- Underground Chautauqua: Three Freedom Trails, 2022
The interactive Chautauqua County Anti-slavery Map includes hundreds of Underground Railroad and Abolitionist households.