Ross County Historical Society Hosts Underground Railroad Expert

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(Chillicothe) – The public is invited to a Fall Lecture series event hosted by the Ross County Historical Society. Dr Andrew Feight, Professor of American History at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, will present New Light on the Underground Railroad in the Appalachian Foothills of Ohio.

The event will take place Thursday, November 16th from 5:30pm-6:30pm on the grounds of the Ross County Heritage Center located at 45 West Fifth Street in Chillicothe.

Dr. Andrew Feight will discuss the central role of African American settlements and churches in the operations of a multi-racial “network to freedom.” Dr Feight will trace the stories of freedom seekers and those Appalachian Ohioans, white and black, who helped them escape and resist the institution of slavery.

Dr. Feight is a Professor of American History and the Director of the Center for Public History at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio. He is the Developer and Editor of the Scioto Historical Project, a public history mobile app and website that explores the history of Portsmouth, Ohio and the surrounding Appalachian region.

Currently, Dr. Feight is serving as the Director of Research and Outreach for an Appalachian Regional Commission POWER Grant project. Known as the Appalachian Freedom Initiative, the project seeks to document and mark Underground Railroad historical sites in the Tristate region of Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. When completed, twenty-seven sites will be officially recognized and listed by the National Park Service’s Network To Freedom marker program.

Dr. Feight is a native of Sandy Springs, Georgia. He graduated from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and received his Ph.D. in American History from the University of Kentucky, where he specialized in the history of slavery and the abolition movement.

This lecture opens the 2023 Fall Lecture Series at the Ross County Heritage Center and is free and open to the public. For more information, please call the Ross County Historical Society at (740) 772-1936.