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Name:
Underground Railroad (Union County)
Region:
Valleys of the Susquehanna
County:
Union
Marker Location:
University Avenue, Lewisburg
Dedication Date:
November 22, 1954
Behind the Marker
The stable was a carriage house behind the home of a Bucknell professor, George R. Bliss. According to family tradition, his wife and their daughter Lucy helped hide fugitive slaves heading north through the central part of the state.
The abolitionist movement did not have strong support in Union County, however. In 1844, only eight votes were cast for James G. Birney, the Liberty (Abolition) Party's nominee for president. Even so, Bucknell University professors reportedly helped create a small but thriving Underground Railroad network in Lewisburg. Thomas F. Curtis and Howard Malcom, who taught with Bliss at the school, also helped aid fugitives.
The Underground Railroad activity at Bucknell was significant because colleges and universities in Pennsylvania were not always centers of abolitionist support. Many schools hoped to attract southern applicants, and almost all administrators in higher education desired to avoid public or legal controversy. Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, for example, banned student discussion of abolitionism in the 1850s.
George Bliss hid fugitive slaves in this carriage house on his property.
The abolitionist movement did not have strong support in Union County, however. In 1844, only eight votes were cast for James G. Birney, the Liberty (Abolition) Party's nominee for president. Even so, Bucknell University professors reportedly helped create a small but thriving Underground Railroad network in Lewisburg. Thomas F. Curtis and Howard Malcom, who taught with Bliss at the school, also helped aid fugitives.
The Underground Railroad activity at Bucknell was significant because colleges and universities in Pennsylvania were not always centers of abolitionist support. Many schools hoped to attract southern applicants, and almost all administrators in higher education desired to avoid public or legal controversy. Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, for example, banned student discussion of abolitionism in the 1850s.
