Hello Bill and Anne:

I appreciate both of your comments about the Underground Railroad and the need to tell the story of its history. Bill your published book about the African-American contribution to the Underground Railroad is one of the best ways to tell your story. Why wait for or complain about the lack of documentation of our experience? You are to be commended for your efforts. It is up to us to correct misconceptions about our experience. Because if we donÕt know one else will.

Afrigeneas is a very powerful vehicle to highlight the contributions of your ancestors and people of color who contributed to the shaping of American history. I do hope that you will visit the Writers Forum and share some of your thoughts and writings ...on various topics about our legacy.

I also echo the sentiments that Anne wrote about the story of the UGRR being told from many points of view. When I think of all the historians and writers who have chronicled the history of our ancestors, I am very pleased to note that they are a multi-cultural group of researchers. If it weren't for the diverse melange of researchers like Dr. Gwen Midlo Hall, Dr. Jane Landers and Canter Brown, the history of my ancestors in the Lower South would continue to take a back seat to the widely accepted and tired myth that our history began and ended in the cotton fields of Tara. If it weren't for Civil War historians like William A Gladstone, who is part of the group of multi racial chroniclers of the US Colored Troops, then the history of our self liberation would be lost forever. Finally, if it weren't for the multi-cultural collaboration within the Afrigeneas family, then much of our history would still be waiting discovery in a dusty archive.

Like you Bill, I'm often annoyed at the lack of historically correct depictions of African Americans or lack of participation in all types of media. We were on the beaches during D-Day, we were at Stone Mountain/Battle of the Crater, we led Union Troops into battle and as you wrote, we were active participants in the Underground Railroad. Unlike you, I haven't written a book that expands the role of African American contributions to our history. So I thank you for your hard work which is a reminder to all of us to pen our family stories.

Regards,

K Wyer Lane