WAVERLY – Thanks to the Waverly Community House (the Comm), visitors can not only see the Abington area, they can get a glimpse of its history.

The Comm received a grant in the amount of $2,000 for an upcoming project called “Destination Freedom: An Interpretive Walking Trail Map.” The grant is sponsored in part by the Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the National Park Service.

“Destination Freedom will be available in the form of a take-away map and companion reader,” said the Comm’s archive director Gia Reviello. “Visitors may then go and visit the sites at their own pace in whichever method they choose. It will be for all ages.”

The map will reveal the entire Abington area, including La Plume and Factoryville. It will serve as a walking guide to show the destinations of significance. The companion reader will be in the form of pamphlets, which will inform about abolitionists and their roles in the Underground Railroad. As part of the Comm Classroom and the Archive initiative, the maps and companion readers will be available in the Comm’s visitor center.

Research for the project was completed last fall. According to the Waverly Community House Archives, the Abington area was one of many locations in the Northeast US where runaway slaves migrated from the Southern slave states through secret routes to obtain freedom. In fact, it became home to more than 75 African Americans.

A majority of them settled on Carbondale Road in Waverly, thanks to a local family named Stone, whose members allowed the African Americans to buy or rent land on easy terms. The former slaves became literate, worked jobs, and attended church services at Fell Primary School. With financial support from the locals, they established a church called the AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church, which was located on Carbondale Road. This church had a literary society, a library, and camp revivals. The AME Church is currently a private residence.

Gia Reviello collaborated with Maria Wilson, executive director of the Comm, and Jim Remsen, author and former resident of Waverly. They came up with the idea because as they brainstormed new ways to engage the public and learn more about local history.

Destination Freedom is expected to begin this summer. There are also more programs about the Underground Railroad in the works.

“The Underground Railroad Interpretive Walking Trail Map is a very exciting project that we are eager to present to the public,” said Reviello. “As always, the Waverly Community House remains dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals and families in the region by providing educational, recreational, and cultural opportunities and this map will be an extension of that goal. It is our intention to benefit the community through this unique learning tool by emphasizing the importance of local history and heritage and how it has been impactful on the national level.”

This drawing is titled “The Charge of the 22nd Regiment” and depicts an African-American Regiment that included six men from Waverly who took part in an assault on Confederate defenses. It currently hangs in West Point’s Museum.
http://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_JR-Painting.jpg.optimal.jpgThis drawing is titled “The Charge of the 22nd Regiment” and depicts an African-American Regiment that included six men from Waverly who took part in an assault on Confederate defenses. It currently hangs in West Point’s Museum.
Comm receives grant for interpretive walking trail map.

By Ben Freda

For Abington Journal

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