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They call him John McCallister, knowing full well it isn't his real name. Since sun-up he's acted as guide, guardian, teacher. He's led them down dried-up creek beds, up forgotten country roads, over rocky embankments, through field and forest and field again, finally stopping them short of a decaying barn an hour's walk east of the Mississippi. McCallister pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and runs it over his face as he closes on the barn. Yesterday he was a farmer tending an orchard in southern Calhoun County, he told them. Today he's harboring fugitives. Tomorrow he'll help them run from the law. The barn is silent and he raises the handkerchief above his head. They dash from the field and into the shadow of the barn. He ushers them inside and latches the door. The first leg of the journey is complete. They'll camp here overnight and move out at daybreak. He finds a lantern. They gather around the light. He tosses out strips of jerky and tin cups, takes a sip of water, then shares the stories. He tells them about Elijah P. Lovejoy, a minister, newspaper man, and Alton abolitionist who was gunned down defending his press. He tells them about Elijah's brother Owen, who would leave Alton to carry his brother's cause to Congress. He tells them about a midnight raid staged in Alton and carried out in a St. Louis armory, a military stunt that ultimately resulted in thousands of firearms for Union soldiers. He tells them about "Free" Frank McWhorter, a slave who bought his freedom and the freedom of 15 family members, a pioneer who became the first black man to found a village in Illinois. He tells them about the men and women of Illinois whose religious conviction and anti-slavery sentiments prompted them to help fleeing slaves make the journey north. Finally, he reminds them that the year is 2002 — not 1832. That they aren't fugitives ferried north on the Underground Railroad. That despite the detail built into this Civil War Era experience, no interpretive heritage program, no recreation however detailed can truly impress what it must have been like to be a slave on the run. That they'll never know the intensity of emotion that runaway slaves must have felt, the fear, the distrust, the gratitude. But that maybe by blending imagination with fact, they'll have a deeper appreciation of their history, their heritage, and the men and women — black and white — who persevered through a turbulent, troubled period in our country's history. 10 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • SEPTEMBER 2000
It's a far cry from today's interpretive heritage programs, but it may be the future for the past in Illinois. Doug Arnold, head of the Greater Alton/Twin Rivers Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), painted a scene similar to the one above when discussing the bureau's plans for heritage tourism development. "We know there's a market for that kind of experience," Arnold says. "We know that people would be attracted to it. So we're looking at taking our current program one step further." The current program already is arguably one of the best in the state. The Greater Alton CVB, which serves Calhoun, Jersey and northern Madison County as well as the immediate Alton area, offers traditional interpretive tours that focus on Underground Railroad and Civil War history. Essentially, the area has incorporated its past into its plans for the future — to the benefit of both. For years, older homes and historic structures have been cleared in the name of economic development. Now communities across America are learning that history is one of the few things that can't be borrowed by neighboring towns competing for the same economic development dollars. "People want to see the authentic, they want to see the original, so preserving and maintaining these sites is absolutely essential," says Arnold. Arnold acknowledges that upkeep of Civil War era homes can be expensive. But the bureau has partnered with private homeowners; consequently, it doesn't have to shoulder the cost of every 150-plus-year-old site on the tour. Not that it wouldn't get a sound return on the investment. Latest figures from the Travel Industry Association of America have Illinois pulling in $196 for every dollar spent on the 1999 spring/summer tourism campaign. In 1999 alone, travel and tourism contributed $22 billion to the state's economy, a 5 percent increase from the year before. At present, nearly a third of our state's tourists seek out cultural heritage activities, and if the trend holds true, heritage tourism will be the fastest-growing niche in the tourism industry. And as Arnold points out, any town, any size, anywhere that has a passion for history and artifacts to share can market its Genius Loci — its "sense of place." "This is what gives a small community a competitive edge," says Arnold. "Can Jerseyville compete with Toronto? No way. Can Otterville compete with San Diego? Not in terms of size and scope. Can they compete with the richness of an Underground Railroad experience? In many ways, yes they can. Each community has a different story to tell. That's their competi-
SEPTEMBER 2000 • ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 11 tive edge, and you really cannot take that away from them. People are going to want to go there, to stand there, to experience it. That's the advantage they have." As for heritage tourism in the Alton area, Arnold says the bureau's interactive program is probably at least two years away. "We want to continually improve upon what we have here and enhance the visitor's experience," Arnold says. "That requires planning and funding and getting different groups organized. And we want to be able to tell the story well. So we need to have knowledgeable tour guides and people who are doing research — and that's continuing as we speak." Even factoring in competition from other states, Arnold's outlook on heritage tourism in Illinois is optimistic. "It's a growing program and there's greater interest in it every year," he says. "What we have here is something very distinctive, and that gives us a competitive edge which is very, very valuable."
What's in a name?
Underground Railroad — the phrase conjures up visions of hidden tracks, secret tunnels and coal-fired locomotives moving by lamplight. Romantic notions, most of them wrong. According to legend, the phrase "Underground Railroad" was coined after a runaway slave vanished, leaving trackers to speculate that he'd been whisked away on some phantom rail line. In practice, the Underground Railroad was a loose network of anti-slavery activists who quietly aided runaway slaves on their journey north. But why would Illinois — a free state — need a secret organization to transport slaves north? While Illinois was north of the Mason-Dixon line, it was largely Southern in spirit - and in politics. Laws which severely limited African Americans' rights, outlawed assistance to runaway slaves, and called for runaways to be returned to their "owners" reflected that Southern sympathy. But a number of Illinois citizens chose to let their conscience, rather than the law, be their guide. Prior to the Civil War, word began to spread of a growing number of communities that would offer fleeing slaves food, shelter and security. In railroad parlance, safe havens became stations, conductors guided runaways from one station to the next, agents coordinated passage, and the slaves became passengers. Routes typically ran a ragged line from the Mississippi River to Chicago, where runaways were ferried north to more friendly territory. Common ports of entry into Illinois included Cairo, Chester, Alton and Quincy. While larger cities such as Peoria, Decatur and Springfield served as stations, Underground Railroad researcher Terry Ransom continues to identify rural Illinois communities that played a part in moving slaves to freedom. Communities such as Sparta, Tamaroa, Oakdale, Alhambra, Donnellson and Carlyle in southern Illinois, Rochester, Adams, Havana and Andover in central Illinois and Princeton, Ottawa, Grand Detour and Byron in the northern part of the state served as stations on the road to freedom. It's that spirit of defiance, of moral right in the face of sanctioned wrong, of strength and unity in a time of dishonor and discord, that we remember today. 12 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • SEPTEMBER 2000 Saving local landmarks
Preserve a national historic treasure or level it in favor of a parking lot? Doesn't seem like a difficult decision, but were it not for a few preservation-minded residents in Quincy, one of our state's most significant Underground Railroad landmarks might be moldering in a landfill. Credited with helping more than 200 slaves escape to freedom, Dr. Richard Eells was caught exercising his abolitionist ideals in 1842. He was tried, convicted and fined $400 for harboring a runaway slave. Eells appealed his case to Circuit Judge Stephen A. Douglas (who would go on to be Abraham Lincoln's verbal sparring partner in a series of statewide debates). Eells' case was eventually heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. He was saved the disappointment of hearing the nation's highest court uphold his conviction; Eells died long before the decision was handed down. Like many historic landmarks, the Eells' house, located at 415 Jersey Street in Quincy, fell into disrepair. Recognizing that if the house were razed a significant piece of Illinois' history would be lost with it, a group of concerned citizens stepped in to save the structure, and in 1990 the Friends of the Dr. Richard Eells House was born. Over the last 10 years they've secured $500,000 in public and private funding to restore the structure. The house is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. So how do you save a landmark that's living on borrowed time? "You have to start by getting the facts," advises Friends president George Irwin. "Get an interested committee together. "A lot of architects will say tear it down - and they don't know what they're talking about." Irwin suggests searching for a contractor who has a background in historic home restoration. For assistance Irwin suggests contacting government representatives, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and local, regional and state tourism bureaus. For more information about the Dr. Richard Eells House, or to schedule a group tour, contact George Irwin at (217) 222-1799, or write to him at Friends of Dr. Richard Eells House, PO Box 628, Quincy, IL 62306.
SEPTEMBER 2000 • ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 13 |
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A room inside the Eells house
in Quincy.