On Saturday, June 12, 2010, from 12:00 – 5:00 PM. Spring Hill Historic Home will host its Juneteenth: The Underground Railroad Experience event.  Juneteenth commemorates the day on which the Union forces, after the end of the Civil War, brought the news to slaves in Galveston, Texas that they were now freemen.  This occurred on June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln had issues the Emancipation Proclamation outlawing slavery in the southern states.  Juneteenth is one of the oldest known celebrations of African American freedom in this country.

For half a century, Spring Hill was a stop along the Underground Railroad.  The residents of Spring Hill, Quakers Thomas and Charity Rotch, and later Arvine Wales, provided sanctuary for slaves traveling through Ohio from the South on their way to freedom in the North and Canada.  The secret staircase used to provide access to a secret hiding place in the attic can still be seen at Spring Hill today.  Saturday’s event will feature a reenactment of an actual encounter between Thomas Rotch and a slave catcher hunting an escaped slave the latter suspected was being harbored at Spring Hill.  Music from that era will be performed by locally renowned gospel singer Pattie Kirksey.  Since 2002, Spring Hill has been certified as an official site on the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Reenactments will take place at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30 PM.  Attendance is limited and advance purchase is strongly recommended, though walk-ins are welcome.    Admission is $8 for adults and $4 for students ages 5-12 and includes the reenactment, a marionette theater performance, and a tour of the house.  Visitors are advised that the reenactment will be held outside and requires walking over uneven ground.  Contact Spring Hill at 330-833-6749 for reservations.