PORTSMOUTH, Va. - An historic church's role in helping Black slaves escape to freedom has been enshrined on a new sign unveiled Friday morning.
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on North Street in Olde Towne Portsmouth has a history dating back to before the American Revolution, but its connection to resistance continued into the next century...as an stop along the Underground Railroad.
Church elders point to spaces in the basement, attic and even behind the organ as places where escaped slaves would hide until they were ready to journey on.
During a ceremony attended by close to a hundred, Friday, the church was officially recognized as part of Virginia's Civil War Trail and the National Park Service's Network to Freedom trail.
“For this to come to fruition with the hard work of the community, it just makes me feel good about our future and our past," said Mayor Shannon Glover after the ceremony.
Among those responsible for bringing the recognition, were Norfolk State University History professor, Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander and Mae Breckinridge-Haywood, Vice President and Co-Founder of the African American History Society of Portsmouth.
“Portsmouth is where I’m from. Portsmouth is where this activity is done. I want just Portsmouth up there (on the map)," said Breckinridge-Haywood. ”And I think I got it.”
Breckinridge-Haywood tells News 3 it took around a year after initially contacting Civil War Trails to get the sign put on the street in front of the church. Mayor Glover paraphrased a Harriet Tubman quote in talking about that effort and the effort of the people at Emanuel A.M.E. more than 160 years ago.
“When you see the torches, when you hear the horses, when you hear the dogs, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going…and that’s what these individuals did here," he said.
