Footsteps to Freedom 1999: Day Four

Update posted on Thu, Aug 19, 1999, at 1:57:33 PM Pacific Daylight Time.

Elmwood Cemetery
Detroit, Michigan

The Black soldiers' grave makers are identifiable by the "CLD" (for "colored") abbreviation. View a montage of the headstones in the cemetery.

Detroit, nicknamed the "Northern Star", was the end of the line for fugitive slaves traveling along the Underground Railroad route before crossing the Detroit River into Canada. Even though Canada and freedom were so close, it was not without danger; slave catchers hid along the river bank waiting to capture fugitive slaves -- some of them even traveled into Canada, capturing slaves and carrying them back across the border to receive payments from slave owners.

On our visit to Detroit's Elmwood Cemetery, we learned about the role African Americans played during the Civil War; the 102nd Regiment was an all Black regiment which fought valiantly for the North. The soldiers are buried alongside their White compatriots in this integrated cemetery. Elmwood director Allen Berksdale was our guide on this fascinating trip.

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