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A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE CHICAGO TO DETROIT FREEDOM TRAIL
WHEREAS, the Underground Railroad is an essential contribution to American History and includes two significant stories about (1) the people who escaped their enslavement in southern states; and (2) the people who, responding to their journeys, created the networks that became the Underground Railroad; and
WHEREAS, we have many stories about the responders, and we continuously seek additional accounts about those fugitives from the south who courageously sought their freedom; and
WHEREAS, there is deep interest across Cook County and the State of Illinois to learn about, acknowledge, and celebrate the actions, events, and stories of freedom seekers and of those who assisted them; and
WHEREAS, the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project (LCUGRR) seeks to emphasize this remarkable period of our collective national history about freedom seekers and the stories of Black, White, and Indigenous individuals and families in Cook County and northern Illinois who assisted them; and
WHEREAS, the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project continues to offer educational tours and programs about freedom seekers and the Underground Railroad; and
WHEREAS, the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project facilitated the inclusion of the historic Jon and Aagje Ton Farm Site on the river and assisted in adding Graceland Cemetery to the National Park Service Network to Freedom listing of significant Underground Railroad locations; and
WHEREAS, the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project is working to create the Chicago to Detroit Freedom Trail as a National Historic Trail to commemorate the journeys of freedom seekers and the networks of the Underground Railroad reaching from Illinois, across northwest Indiana, and through Detroit to freedom in Canada; and
WHEREAS, the main route of the Freedom Trail in Illinois follows the historic road to Detroit and
is designated from Bro...
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