The Portland Freedom Trail, Portland ME

Abyssinian Church, Newbury St. Portland ME
Hello again, and welcome back to the Blog Cabin. This entry is about the Freedom Trail in Portland Me. There are thirteen stone markers that make up the self guided walking tour. The thirteen places in Portland are only a fraction of the 75 underground railroad sites all over Maine. The spots in Portland are all really close together, scattered throughout the bottom of Munjoy Hill and into the Old Port. I had a lot of fun walking around the East End seeking out each marker, which led me through a neighborhood in Portland that I recently haven't had the time to visit as much as I'd like to. Again, I would like to mention any and all pictures form any post in this blog may be enlarged simply by clicking them.

The trail began at the Franklin Street Wharf where the Casco Bay Lines is located. I arrived there around 3:30 and the sun had just begun to dip behind buildings for night. After some wandering around the ferry terminal I found the first marker and the tour began. The markers are granite towers standing about 3-4 four feet high with a plaque describing the significance of each site and after seeing the first one I was able to spot the others with greater ease. The whole tour took me a little over an hour, with a quick pit stop at Carlson and Turner, and it was a joy to walk even in the cold as the sun was setting.

What Struck me most about this site visit was the extremely close proximity that all of the markers had. There were a few on or directly off of India St. as well as Fore St. I knew that the East End of Portland has always been culturally diverse, but not until I completed this site visit did I realize the extent to which it was present throughout the area's history.

Before going on this visit I had briefly heard about the Abyssinian Church from my History of Maine class, and knew about the anti-slavery passions of state legislator General Samuel C. Fessenden. However I did not realize how the East End of Portland acted as the hub for these people and places with barber shops, meeting houses, churches, and personal residencies that housed slaves and offered space to meet and discuss anti-slavery ideas. The site visit was very eye opening and made me even more proud of the roles Mainers have played in advancing equal rights for all human beings.

B.

Sam Shupe
Libby Bischof
HTY 360
December 10, 2009

Historical Significance of
The Portland Freedom Trail

Maine is not always thought of as a very influential state in the fight for the abolition of slavery, partly because of its far removed geographic location from what were slave states. However, Maine and Portland did play a huge role in helping slaves escape to freedom and advancing the abolitionist movement. The Portland Freedom Trail is a self guided walking tour that consists of 13 granite markers, hi-lighting important locations of anti-slavery venues, people, and buildings. It is important for the citizens of Portland to realize the amazing heritage their city has, fighting for the rights and equal treatment of all human beings regardless of skin color.

Portland has continually become more diverse and the Portland Press Herald reports in a recent article some of the new languages that will be spoken in Portland schools this year. Kelly Bouchard Writes, “New languages recognized in Portland schools this year include Kayah (Burma), Nuer (Sudan and Ethiopia), Kirundi (Burundi and Tanzania), Madi (Sudan and Uganda), Farsi (Iran and Afghanistan), Dari (Afghanistan), Azerbaijani, Cantonese, Kusaal (Ghana), Swedish, Fur (Darfur), Indonesian, Punjabi (India) and Sidamo (Ethiopia).” The communities and people of Portland have always made a conscious effort to welcome immigration to Portland and it shows as Bouchard goes onto describe what the director of multilingual services has encountered this year. She says, “Enrollment of multilingual students typically wanes after school starts in September, but Valenzuela's staff registered 44 new multilingual students in October.” Portland has been consistently welcoming for immigration and increasing diversity for a long time and it is important for new residents in the city know of the rich equal rights and anti-slavery history.

The Portland Freedom Trail Is a wonderful preservation of Portland’s past people and places who greatly helped the abolitionist cause, including politicians, churches and barbershops. The thirteen markers scattered through the heart of downtown let the current and future population know that Portland has always been a welcoming, helpful, and friendly place to anyone regardless of color. It is a place of great historical significance in the anti-slavery cause and the community along with the Portland Freedom Trail is celebrating and proving that equality and diversity have been welcomed throughout our past and is welcome now.

Article can be found at: http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=297999&ac=PHnws&pg=1



*Side Note: The Kindergarten class that is the focus of this article happens to be the class that I completed a field placement in this semester at USM for an education class (I also major in early education at USM in addition to history). This field placement has been one of my favorites so far, the students and my host teacher were extremely nice and welcoming of me into their classroom. Being in their classroom for the semester really made me appreciate everything that Portland has to offer.