Duffield Place: Follow The Drinking Gourd

from 5/22/06 from pseudo-intellectualism

Yesterday's NYTimes had an article on the possible destruction of downtown Brooklyn properties via eminent domain. These properties may have been stops on the Underground Railroad. The accompanying photo is of one of those properties at 233 Duffield Street. I set it within an historic photo (from the nypldigital collection) of the symbolic sale of an escaped slave at Beecher's Plymouth Church (an underground site) in Brooklyn Heights. Here's a pdf packet of articles on the Underground Railroad in New York City as well as some pages from a really good site on Iowa "stations".Here's a slide show composed of images from Dover's Underground Railroad coloring book combined with Richie Haven's version of "Follow The Drinking Gourd." The pdf packet includes an explanation of drinking gourd's lyrics (on pages 52-53).