Come join us on January 20th, 2022, on the heels of MLK Day, as we sit in conversation with Dr. Gerard Aching, Professor of Africana and Romance Studies, Cornell University, and the director of the Underground Railroad Project in Ithaca, New York. In this conversation moderated by Rev. Dr. Sushmita Mukherjee, a Dean at the First Year Seminary Program at One Spirit, we will hear stories about the discoveries arising from an archeological excavation of the St. James AME Zion Church in Ithaca - a “Freedom Church” that served as an important station in the Underground Railroad, and hosted luminaries including Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and W.E.B. Du Bois. 

This project, under the leadership of Dr. Aching, has brought together students and faculty from several departments of Cornell University (who would normally have no occasion to work together), along with the pastor of the Church, middle- and high-school students from the local school district, and neighbors of the Church. 

Our discussion will focus on the stories coming to life about the experience of the Black freedom-seekers escaping from Southern Plantations, and their White allies who provided support and shelter, often at significant personal risk. 

Come join us as we speak about, and experience, the stories that reinforce our faith in human courage, our common yearning for freedom and self-agency, and our deep instinct for justice and mutual wellbeing.

Further reading for those interested:
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/12/freedom-church-unearths-its-underground-railroad-history
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/09/excavation-explore-churchs-role-underground-railroad