The Michigan Maritime Museum invites the public to Freedom via Water!
Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad on and near Lake Michigan on Wednesday,
November 12th at 6:30 PM, presented by Dr. Larry McClellan.


In this engaging program, Dr. McClellan explores the decades before the Civil War when
hundreds of freedom seekers escaped enslavement in the South, traveling through Chicago and
onward to Detroit and freedom in Canada. Using maps, images, and first-hand stories,
McClellan traces these courageous journeys across the Great Lakes, revealing how waterways
like Lake Michigan and Lake Huron became routes to liberation.


The lecture highlights the development of freedom networks in northeastern Illinois and the role
of both Black and white abolitionists who risked their safety to assist escapees. From the
completion of the I & M Canal to the rise of the Chicago-Detroit rail connection, McClellan
illustrates how transportation corridors opened new paths to freedom—and how biracial
collaboration forged bonds that helped shape the movement against slavery.


Dr. Larry A. McClellan is Professor Emeritus at Governors State University and a leading
historian of the Underground Railroad. He is the author of The Underground Railroad South of
Chicago and Onward to Chicago: Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in
Northeastern Illinois, which received the 2023 National Underground Railroad Free Press
Memorial Prize and the 2024 Illinois State Historical Society Book Award. McClellan currently
serves as President of the Midwest Underground Railroad Network and on the Illinois
Underground Railroad Task Force.


This event is part of the Museum’s 2025 Whispers Across the Water lecture series,
celebrating minority contributions to Great Lakes maritime history.
This program is made possible by the Nielsen-Wells Grant Fund and Mike & Susan Smith.
Tickets are free for Museum members and $10 for non-members. Doors open at 6 PM.


Event Details
What: Freedom via Water! Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad
When: Wednesday, November 12, 6:30 – 7:30 PM.
Where: Michigan Maritime Museum, 260 Dyckman Avenue, South Haven, MI
Tickets: Free for Museum members | $10 for non-members
Reservations: 269-637-8078 or MichiganMaritimeMuseum.org/events