GWEN WRIGHT: The horrors of slavery forced those in bondage to make the ultimate choice – to remain in shackles or to risk their lives by escaping. By the late 1700s, as more northern states passed emancipation laws, rewards for the return of fleeing slaves became a standard feature in American newspapers. Under the constant threat of capture, the terrified escapees will eventually find a possible source of help, a secret network of individuals who in the 1800s come to be known as the Underground Railroad. Almost 200 years later, Anne Zarella from Bradley Beach, New Jersey, has a strange map she suspects may be related to this clandestine escape network. I'm Gwendolyn Wright and I’m meeting with Anne to take a look at what she found.

ANNE: And here's the map.

GWEN: Thank you. Well, I see here's the Ohio River in Southern Ohio. Now, how did you come to find this map?

ANNE: Well, my husband and I went to a garage sale in 1997. We bought the map for $45. It wasn't until I got it home and really looked at it that I noticed that it was unusual.

GWEN: Now where did you get the idea that this map was connected to the Underground Railroad?

GWEN: Anne's done a little research and has discovered that the area of her map, Southern Ohio, was a hotbed of Underground Railroad activity in the middle of the 19th century. She's also noticed a series of odd markings on her map.

ANNE: There are all these dotted lines, but none of them have a name. And, I began to wonder what kind of map it would be where you didn't name the roads that…so you wouldn't be traveling on roads. You'd be traveling in some secret way.

GWEN: Well, let's look at the key. "Those marked thus are meetings of friends..."

ANNE: Yes. And, I'm assuming that these were Quaker settlements.

GWEN: Well, the Quakers called themselves Friends and these must be their meeting houses.

ANNE: Right. Where they worshipped.

GWEN: You know there were a number of them, in fact, in this area.

ANNE: Yes. And, of course, the Quakers were related to the Underground Railroad. They helped the escaped slaves.

GWEN: Now, tell me exactly what you'd like for me to find out, Anne?

ANNE: I would like to know if the map is authentic. If it really was used for the Underground Railroad. If some conductor on the Underground Railroad actually carried the map. I can see it was carried by someone.

GWEN: Well, it'll be an interesting quest for me to see what I can find out. May I take it with me?

ANNE: Please do.

GWEN: Anne certainly has an intriguing map, but I’m not sure about her theory. I suspect not many roads in these rural areas had names back then. And it seems unlikely that a slave could have used a map like this. Most couldn't read. Anne thinks an Underground Railroad conductor, someone assisting escaping slaves may have carried it. That's possible, but it seems a bit far fetched. If he or she were caught, an entire network of safe places and people who tried to help would be destroyed. Here's the area we're looking at. Ohio, the Ohio River, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. But there's no date or signature, so it's hard to know who made Anne's map or when. We have very little material evidence from the Underground Railroad today. So if this map is what Anne thinks it is, it could be quite a significant find.

Print Transcript