Contact Us

Our Hub welcomes the curiosity of anyone, regardless of age and background, who would like to learn more about the underground railroad in our region.

Gerard Aching

gla23@cornell.edu

Retired professor of Africana and Romance Studies, Cornell University, who has facilitated the collaborations for these underground railroad projects on campus and in local communities. He was the lead instructor for Africana’s undergraduate “Underground Railroad Seminar,” which is an experiential course that examines slave narratives, abolitionism, and the underground railroad through visits to local sites.

Kofi Acree

ea18@cornell.edu

Director for the John Henrik Clarke Africana Library and Curator of Africana Collections for the Division of Rara and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University. In addition to his extensive knowledge of the university’s holdings and collections in the area of Africana studies, he has created over thirty study guides on historical and contemporary issues, figures, events, and movements throughout the Black world.

Ethan Dickerman

epd55@cornell.edu

President of Friends of Historic Germantown and a Historic Preservationist, with an M.A. from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies, he is the project coordinator for Ithaca’s Underground Railroad Mobile Guide and the creator of the Tompkins County Rural Black Residents (TCRBR) Project, which spatially contextualizes the stories of Black residents in Tompkins County between 1820 and 1870.

Patricia Longoria

patlongoria@gmail.com

A graduate of history from the University of Chicago, writer, editor, and digital content creator, she has worked extensively with local history organizations in the Ithaca area. As deputy historian of the Village of Cayuga Heights, she conducted detailed house and site history research. She has worked closely with Historic Ithaca, an organization that advocates for the preservation of Ithaca’s built environment, and she is a member of the research team for Ithaca’s Underground Railroad Mobile Guide.

Photo of the History Center Exhibit Hall

The History Center in Tompkins County

https://www.thehistorycenter.net

The History Center in Tompkins County promotes local history through stewardship of their collections and by engaging with our community to understand the past, to gain perspective on the present, and to play an informed role in shaping the future. The Center designs learning experiences and creates opportunities for people to learn about themselves and their place in the world.