While Black history gets extra spotlight during the month of February, it is being studied year-round at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.
The museum is located on the banks of the Ohio river, where many enslaved people took their first steps on free ground. The museum looks at the contributions of freedom conductors and historical figures who fought for freedom, such as Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and more.
According to the National Park Service, many freedom seekers used natural waterways such as rivers and man-made channels to reach freedom, which is why Cincinnati was a landing spot for many in the South seeking freedom.
Although slavery was illegal in Ohio, conductors of the Underground Railroad faced attacks.
“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger,” Tubman said in 1898.
The museum opened in 2004 and has since welcomed 1.3 million guests.
"Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate culture, stories of triumph and the persevering heritage of Black culture in America," Woodrow Keown, Jr., president and COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, said in a statement. "Among the lessons learned during February, the first and foremost must be that Black history is not just 28 days but should be incorporated daily into our lifelong learning. Black history is not a subset of history. Black history is American history."
The theme of this year’s Black History Month is Black Resistance.
Groups celebrating Black History Month are including this year’s theme as part of their commemorations.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is hosting an event this week focused on Black Resistance.
The museum is open Wednesday-Sunday.
