MAINE FREEDOM TRAILS, INC.
The City of Portland officially proclaimed the establishment of the Portland
Freedom Trail on November 9, 2006 with the installation of a granite and bronze
marker at the Eastern Cemetery. The cemetery was chosen as the first site to be
unveiled on the trail in honor of the final resting place of many of Portland’s
abolitionist leaders.
The marker is one of sixteen that will constitute a permanent walking trail
highlighting the people, places, events and daily life associated with the
Underground Railroad and anti-slavery movement in Portland.
The trail represents the first project of the Maine Freedom Trails, Inc., a
non-profit organization dedicated to:
Establishing a network of marked sites across the state that acknowledge
individual, organizational and community participation in the Underground
Railroad and abolitionist movement;
Linking the state’s network of sites to national Underground Railroad routes and
the related activities of the National Park Service;
Producing materials related to this period of Maine’s history;
Engaging the community in the ongoing research, identification and documentation
of the Underground Railroad and anti-slavery movement in Maine to best
interpret, commemorate and preserve this legacy;
Advancing the public discourse on the many struggles for social justice,
economic justice and human rights – past and present – thereby connecting the
history of the Underground Railroad to global movements for freedom; and
Collaborating with other efforts to preserve Maine’s African American history
and culture.
The Portland Freedom Trail was officially
dedicated on July 14, 2007 at a ceremony in Lincoln Park, Portland
