From as early as 1820, runaway slaves were assisted to freedom through a secret network of brave citizens providing financial, spiritual, and material aid. This network, known as the Underground Railroad, was responsible for bringing an estimated 100,000 former slaves from southern states to relative freedom in the north and Canada. Fugitives would make their way on foot from one town to the next, most often under cover of darkness. At each stop, they were assisted by men and women known as “conductors” who risked their own freedom and livelihood to help.
Several routes converged in Detroit and, during the early years of the Railroad’s existence, the city had become a final destination for many freedom seekers. An estimated 45,000 made it here, with many continuing on across the river to Windsor, Ontario after slavery was abolished in Canada in 1834. Many returned to America after the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation near the end of the Civil War.
One of the most active abolitionists in the local Underground network was George de Baptiste, who was born free in Virginia and relocated to Detroit as an adult. His likeness is shown here at the center of the monument, pointing the way to freedom. De Baptiste, was a business owner who eventually purchased a steamship to secretly transport ex-slaves to Canada. He and another free-born gentleman, William Lambert, established a secret organization named African-American Mysteries; Order of the Men of Oppression that recruited many local African Americans and a few whites to aid in the escape network. Initiates were said to be subject to many elaborate rituals to ensure their allegiance and secrecy.
The Gateway to Freedom International Memorial to the Underground Railroad pays tribute to the hundreds of conductors who made freedom possible and to Detroit’s unique contribution to that effort. It was sculpted by artist Ed Dwight and dedicated on October 20, 2001. Dwight earned a notable place in modern history in 1962 when he became the first African American accepted into the US space program. He resigned in 1966, however, and eventually reclaimed his passion for art. Dwight’s lifetime output includes over 120 monuments and public art installations, most of which document the often overlooked contributions of African Americans to our U.S. history.
Dwight was hired to create Gateway to Freedom after submitting his winning design to a competition sponsored by Detroit 300, the non-profit group that organized Detroit’s tricentennial celebration. The bronze and granite memorial features eight larger-than-life figures preparing to cross the river to freedom.
The province of Ontario is also honored with a companion monument across the river, entitled, "Tower of Freedom." In that piece, a former slave raises his arms in celebration and praise, while a Quaker woman provides assistance to a woman and child. Behind them a little girl looks back nostalgically toward Detroit and the courageous conductors of the Underground Railroad who helped them get there.
