Illinois Underground Railroad Task Force announces expansion of education and tourism

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WMBD) — Illinois played a pivotal role in the Underground Railroad, with new information about it to be uncovered.

State Senator Dave Koehler, alongside other Illinois officials, announced that the Underground Railroad Taskforce will be "connecting the dots" in the state's history and story of the Underground Railroad.

"I think the purpose of the state commission that we're looking for is to be an umbrella," said Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman, who brought the idea of the project to Koheler, "not to take away anything from the fantastic regional projects that are already taking place, but to be an entity that glues the story together and shows the full path, a journey that was required in order to accomplish this."

Part of the project will be finding different places in Illinois that played a pivotal role in assisting Freedom Seekers during that time but aren't as well known.

"There may be more than two-hundred sites that can be identified with the journeys of freedom seekers and the work of the underground Railroad in Illinois," said 38th District Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin. "Most of these have not been fully identified, and only relatively small numbers have been deeply researched."

In a press release, Koehler wrote about the purpose of the explorative project.

"Despite nationwide efforts to restrict education about our country's history of racism, Illinois remains committed to shining a light on our past so we can move forward," he said. "Our bipartisan initiative will shed light on Illinois' historic ties to the Underground Railroad, and honor the brave individuals who fought against slavery and oppression so many years ago."

If funding is provided, the collaborative effort would be called the Illinois Freedom Trails Commission.