Forest Hill Church invites participants to visit last stop on the underground railroad

Another pilgrimage has been planned by Forest Hill Church, this time to Detroit on Saturday, April 25. The deadline for registering is March 20.

The one-day trip will include a stop at the First Congregational Church for the Underground Railroad Living Museum "Flight to Freedom" tour. The tour includes a re-enactment of the original Underground Railroad passage that operated 1840–63. Visitors will be shackled with wrist bands at the entrance of the tour and begin their experience by entering through the "Door of No Return" in Africa, before becoming passengers on the Underground Railroad on a journey to the First Congregational Church and freedom.

The trip also includes a visit to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the world’s largest institution dedicated to the African-American experience. The Wright Museum houses over 35,000 artifacts and archival materials and is home to the Blanche Coggin Underground Railroad Collection, the Harriet Tubman Museum Collection, the Coleman A. Young Collection and the Sheffield Collection, a repository of documents of the labor movement in Detroit. 

Last year, 30 people traveled to Washington, D.C., to visit the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum, where travelers were able to verify their relatives who served in the war. Other notable stops included lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl (one of President Barack Obama's favorite lunch spots), the Lincoln Memorial, and a silent visit to the memorial gardens that honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and some of our past presidents. The conversation that took place during the trip led to a better understanding of the life experiences that both join and separate races. 

The estimated cost of the April 25 trip is $40, which includes bus fare and admissions, but could vary according to the number of attendees. Scholarships are available and seats are limited. To register, or for more information, contact Barb Cloud at 216-321-9112 or Anne Smith at 216-932-2932.