Freedom Quest Ohio project description

In honor of Black History Month 2005, WVIZ/PBS launched a series of special programs for schools in Ohio and beyond. The focus of this project, Freedom Quest: Ohio, was the Underground Railroad Movement. WVIZ/PBS hosted a number of distance learning programs that included presentations by Joan Southgate and the National Underground Railroad Museum and Freedom Center in Cincinnati.

From February 23-25, 2005, Joan told her incredible personal story and also that of the Underground Railroad. Joan is a Cleveland grandmother and retired social worker. At age 73, Joan walked 519 miles of the Underground Railroad route followed by her slave ancestors, from Ripley, Ohio, to St. Catherines, Canada. Joan presented to groups of students in a live audience and also via video conferencing. The video conferencing enabled schools from all over the state of Ohio and elsewhere, to interact with Ms. Southgate and learn of her personal journey and that of the thousands who traveled the Underground Railroad.

Beginning February 23rd, WVIZ conducted three interactive video conferences designed to engage and involve students and their teachers in a dialogue about freedom. The video conferences featured

renowned poet, author and inspirational speaker Joan Southgate. Joining her was Naomi Nelson, Director of Education Programs for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Rev. John Thomas, President of the United Church of Christ, and Carl Westmoreland, Senior Curator of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Students listened to panel discussions, were able to ask questions and formulate ideas about freedom, their relation to freedom, their relation to their forbearers and those who made sacrifices for the freedoms they experience today.

During April and May, Joan Southgate, a woman in her seventies and-Terry Peterson, an award winning producer in his 40's, made their way across Ohio. Using the "Underground Railroad" as a very visible and viable illustration of freedom, the series of six interactive video distance learning sessions transported students to historic places along the original path of the Underground Railroad where interviews were gathered and incorporated into a powerful exploration of freedom.

Even though the journey is over, the lessons learned can be experienced in the classroom via Flash streaming video contained within these web pages that document the trip. These videos, used in conjunction with Joan's online journal, photos from the trip across Ohio, interactive maps, and various on-line resources, will provide students with a unique learning experience allowing them the opportunity to discover the places, the people, and the conditions that supported many dangerous journeys to freedom.

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