The historic people, places and events that marked the significant role of the Long Island region in the demise of slavery in the United States is the subject of The Underground Railroad on Long Island: Friends in Freedom, the latest work by Kathleen Velsor, an associate professor in the School of Education at Old Westbury.
Published by the History Press, The Underground Railroad on Long Island provides updated findings from Velsor’s ongoing efforts to document the roles of Long Islanders, those famous and not, in this historic slavery-to-freedom movement. Additional findings reported in the book include history related to other structures that still stand today, including the Jackson Malcolm House in Jericho and an ice house of the Post family farm in Westbury.
The Jackson Malcolm House, currently owned by Nassau County and referred to as the Malcolm House, was used as a school for escaping slaves where the fugitives were taught to speak, dress and act like those who were free. Velsor found the role of the Post family ice house as a hiding place on the Underground Railroad through recorded correspondence between members of the Post family members living at the time on Long Island and in Rochester.
The book also includes new photographs and maps of Wantagh, Old Westbury and Jericho that illustrate local houses that were part of the Underground Railroad that remain standing today.