North to Freedom (Brewer, Maine)]]> Abolitionists--United States
Antislavery movements--United States
Fugitive slaves--United States
Northeastern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Underground Railroad

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture]]>
Hines, Glenn M., 1950-

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Information plaque:

Chamberlain Freedom Park
State of Maine Underground Railroad Memorial

The Brewer Historical Society created this park to honor Civil War hero General Joshua L. Chamberlain, a Brewer native. The park also commemorates Maine's  role as a stop on the "Underground Railroad" used by runaway slaves to reach freedom in Canada.

A statue of an unknown slave lifts himself, leaning North while looking South, from an underground railroad tunnel uncovered during construction in 1995. The "North to Freedom" statue, by Maine sculptors Glenn and Dianna Hines, represents all who made the dangerous journeys along the "Underground Railroad."

Landscape design: Dick Campbell
Historic Interpretation: Brian Higgins]]>
Bangor Daily News, September 1, 2012. Accessed April 30, 2021, https://bangordailynews.com/2012/09/01/news/bangor/north-to-freedom-statue-in-brewer-only-official-maine-memorial-to-underground-railroad/.]]> Chamberlain Freedom Park, 12 State Street, Brewer, Maine, 04412, United States
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Henry "Box" Brown Memorial (Richmond, Virginia)]]> Abolitionists--United States
Antislavery movements--United States
Mid-Atlantic United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Slavery--Emancipation

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Brown, Henry "Box," 1816-1897

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Commemorative sculpture]]>
The memorial includes a bronze crate meant to resemble the wooden one that Brown used. The crate is open and an outline of a crouching human figure is inscribed on the back panel of the box. An informational placard is sited near the sculpture, which details the history of slavery in Richmond and Brown's escape.]]>
Henry "Box" Brown]]> Inscriptions on five sides of box:
"Buoyed by the prospect of Freedom...I was willing to dare even death itself."

"The idea flashed across my mind of shutting myself up in a box, and getting myself conveyed... to a free state."

"I laid me down in my darkened home of three feet by two feet."

"My friends...managed to break open the box, and then came my resurrection from the grave of slavery"

"I arose a free man"

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An inscription on the stone base:
"In a wooden crate similar to this one, Henry Brown, a Richmond tobacco worker, made the journey from slavery to freedom in 1849"]]>
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Corinth Contraband Camp (Corinth, MS)]]> Subject (Topic)
American South
Civil War
Corinth (Miss.)
Fugitive slaves--United States
Mississippi--History
Public art
Public sculpture
Refugee camps--Southern States--History--19th century
Slaves--Emancipation--United States

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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Hardee's Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics from his haversack . Included at the site: two bronze plaques with inscriptions attached to a concrete wall near the greeter; two bronze low reliefs on a concrete wall opposite the greeter; and an informational panel explaining farming at the site in front of the farmer.

The two bronze low reliefs are based on nineteenth-century photographs: Timothy H. O'Sullivan, [Rappahannock River, Va. Fugitive African Americans fording the Rappahannock], August 1862 and G.W. Foster, Refugee camp; street scene, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864.]]>
Corinth Civil War Interpretative Center]]> Inscription on bronze plaque at entrance:
Site of the Corinth Contraband Camp
November 1862-December 1863
Here a newly freed people took their unswerving first steps on the long road to full citizenship.

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Inscription on bronze plaque at entrance:
“This is a great opportunity afforded your race. Will you improve it?” — Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant General, United States Army, in a speech to the Corinth Contraband Camp, May 15, 1863

Warmly received amid cheers of the assembled crowd, General Thomas’s words formed a challenge met daily by all who arrived to fulfill the mission of this camp.

Assisted by the American Missionary Association, some 6,000 ex-slaves here practiced free enterprise and pursued an education for themselves and their children.

Bravely affirming their unalienable right to equality. Men from this camp swelled the ranks of two infantry regiments raised for services in the U.S. Army.

Although short-lived, the Corinth Contraband Camp served as a model endeavor for later United States efforts during the American Civil War.

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Information sign in front of farmer statue:
Contraband Camp

The Corinth Contraband Camp offered former slaves the first step toward self-sustainbility and freedom through profitable farming. These men, women, and children grew 300 acres of cotton and 100 acres of vegetables. All of the crops were sold, and the profits combined to about $5,000 per month, which would exceed $70,000 in today's money.

Individuals also had smaller gardens that fed themselves and their families. These gardens consisted of tomatoes, cabbages, sweet potatoes, and other vegetables. This was the first time that many of the former slaves had grown crops for themselves rather than for someone else's benefit.

Even though the Corinth Contraband Camp was only active for a little more than a year. It helped over 6,000 African Americans take a major step toward eventual citizenship. These newly freed African Americans would go on to use the skills they learned at the Corinth Contraband Camp to raise families, work paid jobs, and become self-sufficient members of society.

This working garden was designed and created as part of an Eagle Scout project. (The rest of the text has weathered away.)


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https://www.nps.gov/shil/planyourvisit/contrabandcamp.htm.]]>