NEWS AND EVENTS

Historic Belmont Mansion Scheduled To Open In March, 2007 As Underground Railroad Museum

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The story of the involvement of Belmont Mansion's inhabitants in the Abolitionist Movement and Underground Railroad will be told in the first large room on the second floor. The exhibit will present the difficulties of recreating the story of the Underground Railroad, which by its nature was kept secret. The exhibit will include reproductions of letters, documents and oral history recording from which their involvement has been reconstructed.

The centerpiece of the display will be a scale model of Belmont Mansion and the surrounding estate at the time of the Underground Railroad. Using scale figures with this hands-on model, families will explore the route that fugitive slaves may have taken from the inclined plan of the railroad to the attic of Belmont Mansion, the Boelsen Cottage and Peter's Island in the Schuylkill River.

In the adjacent room, an interactive QuickTime Virtual Reality re-creating of the attic in which fugitive slaves may have been hidden will be displayed on a flat video screen.

The Belmont Mansion story will be put in the context of the larger story of Philadelphia's role in the Abolitionist Movement and the Underground Railroad in the second large room on the second floor.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (NURFC) in Cincinnati, Ohio named Belmont Mansion the first of what will be 25 national Freedom Stations, signifying the importance the historic Mansion as a station on the Underground Railroad. It was here that escaping slaves, under cover of night and despite great danger, came from the river, the nearby railroad, or by other means, to hide in the Mansion's attic until help would come to take them on to the next station. The Harriette Tubman Gift Shop will carry an inventory of memorabilia, souvenirs, research, art and craft items related to the exhibit. The Gift Shop will seek not only to provide items for the visitor to remember their visit, but will seek to become the venue of choice when looking for unique, historic or ethnic gifts.

Recently a new discovery was found by a contractor doing work in the basement of the first floor of the Mansion: an underground tunnel showing a small room accessible by stone steps and a connecting door.

The National Park Service National Network to Freedom program certified Belmont Mansion as a connection to the Underground Railroad.

The Banquet Room and Gardens of the Historic Belmont Mansion will continue to be the venue of choice for weddings and other special events.

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