About this Project

The year is 1858. The Fugitive Slave Law was passed eight years ago-bad news for you and your small group who have just managed a narrow escape from slavery landing in Manhattan, Kansas. Alas, you thought your adventure was over. Now you’re going to have to carefully navigate your way through Kansas to get to Canada with the help of the Underground Railroad.

The journey you are about to take through this website will place you in the shoes of enslaved Africans, slave owners, and abolitionists while teaching you the true meaning of strength, courage and endurance!

The Web Site

Our goal with this project is to create an historical website for Richard Pitts. He approached our class with the challenge of creating a website where people from all over could learn about the impact of the Underground Railroad in the Kansas Territory. His focus of interest is Northeast Kansas within a fifteen mile radius of Manhattan, KS. Richard and the class felt it was important to create such a website because this history may soon be lost and to show how people are helping one another to preserve freedom. The time period of 1840-1880 has a memorable history and we want to preserve this history so it may be passed down to future generations.

Research for this project at times has been overwhelming, but other times it has been inspiring. Students in the STLP class took a tour with Richard Pitts around to sites, cemeteries, and monuments that represent “Images in Time” in Riley and Wabaunsee counties. Each site has a historical significance that represents people helping people no matter their race, gender, or background. These “Images” helped the students to recognize cultural diversity outside of their community. Not only does this project represent people helping people back in time, but students are helping outside of their community to make it better.

What's Next

We have used this project to learn about cultural diversity, historical research, interviewing techniques, gathering primary and secondary sources, collecting and sorting materials, web page design, scanning, digital movie making, and more.

We consider this a "work in progress", a never-ending project. Some things did not always turn out as well as we hoped. We plan to continue to update this site as we gather and receive new material, find and correct our mistakes, and get better at the "tools" we use to build this site.

If you have information you would like to share with us, find inconsistencies or mistakes, or just have a comment please let us know by sending us an email or contacting Richard Pitts. An email link along with a link to the latest version of this site can be found at the bottom of each page.

The Class

At Randolph Middle School, the Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) was developed for students from the 7th and 8th grade classes who were interested in technology and communication. Twelve students are in the class. They were selected from an application process at the beginning of the year. The class meets for 30 minutes a day.
Students are trained in the use of technology and communication. Students create and work on many projects during this time for teachers and the community.

Some students are teamed up with a teacher to help with technology integration. Also, students learn e-mail communication, netiquette, presentation programs, and communication skills. They also help teachers and students in designing and creating projects for classrooms. STLP students are role models as technology leaders in our school and community.

We want to thank everyone who has helped out in any way with the development of this site!