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The
Underground Railroad
Thomas Garrett, John Hunn, Ezekiel
Jenkins, Samuel D. Burris, and many other Delawareans were
prominent Abolitionists of Pre-Civil War Days. Their activities
with Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave from Dorchester County,
Maryland, frequently referred to as the “Moses of her People”
was indeed of monumental importance to both the first state and
the United States of America. At the home of Thomas Garrett, 227
Shipley Street, Wilmington, Delaware, more than 2,700 slaves
received financial assistance, directions, and moral
encouragement in their flight from bondage to freedom. No other
point along the entire Underground Network handled as much human
traffic as did the Garrett house. For many fugitive slaves
enroute to Philadelphia and other points North, the City of
Wilmington became known as “A Last Stop Before Freedom”.
Tubman-Garrett Plaque location
June 1976: Peter Spencer Plaza, 800 North French Street, downtown
Wilmington.
Relocation: Tubman-Garrett
Historical Plaque was formerly located at Peter Spencer Plaza,
800 North French Street, Wilmington, and relocated for the
official dedication of the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park, March
10, 1999. The park is located at the corner of Water & South
Street on the Christina River in the vicinity of Amtrak Train
Station.
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The Harriet Tubman Historical
Society organized the Thomas Garrett Memorial Project in 1984.
Thomas Garrett Memorial Vigil, Thomas Garrett Statue on Quaker
Hill sponsored by Bayard Marin, President of Quaker Hill
Historic Preservation Foundation, Thomas Garrett Day and Special
Newspaper, Initiative to name Del Tech College Campus in honor
of Garrett, SCR 56 sponsored by Senator Harris B. McDowell, and
supported the naming of Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park sponsored
by the Hon. James M. Baker.
August 20, 1993, the Harriet Tubman
Historical Society celebrated the life/legacy of Thomas Garrett
and the Underground Railroad in Delaware. The dedication of the
Historical Marker at the corner of 4th & Shipley
Streets, Delaware Technical & Community College was unveiled to
recognize the significance of Thomas Garrett’s home as a station
of the Underground Railroad.
Thomas Garrett: Savior of Slaves
by Gary Soulsman - The News-Journal, Wilmington, Del. Thursday,
Aug. 21, 1997
References:
Dr. James Newton
Mayor James M. Baker
Harriet Tubman Historical Society
Harriet Tubman Freedom Tour
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