Within the past year, the Afrolumens Project (African American history in central Pennsylvania-- www.afrolumens.org ) has begun collecting underground railroad stories from central Pennsylvania in earnest. While our previous focus was on slavery in Pennsylvania and the rise of free African American communities here, the historical tie-in, together with an increasing interest in the urr, necessitated that we create a separate section on our web site devoted to the topic.

We are currently trying to construct an overview of all urr activity in the greater Harrisburg area. The greatest area of material seems to be in oral tradition/family stories, with scant primary documentation. Many local historians have been working individually on this topic, and we hope that by sharing resources and comparing notes, we can produce a survey of all viable data. Our target date for publication on the web site is March, 2004.

I'd be happy to hear from anyone interested in the urr in the greater Harrisburg area.