Key Takeaways
- A dresser in Manhattan’s Merchant’s House Museum revealed a secret passage used in the Underground Railroad.
- This is the first Underground Railroad discovery in Manhattan in over 100 years.
- The passage’s small size and wax drippings offer a rare, physical glimpse into the journey to freedom.
We’re still uncovering new bits and pieces of history to this day. A dresser inside the Merchant’s House Museum was confirmed to conceal a hidden stop on the Underground Railroad.
In footage shared on Tuesday (Feb. 10), Spectrum News NY1 noted it was the first Underground Railroad passageway uncovered in Manhattan in more than a century. “This was the path to freedom for so many who escaped slavery in the South,” reporter Cheryl Wills said, as the camera showed a small opening in the floorboards leading to a narrow, enclosed space that was roughly 2-by-2 feet.
Camille Czerkowicz, the museum’s curator, explained that the home was built by Joseph Brewster, who also helped establish another secret stop at a church on Rivington Street. “Being an abolitionist was incredibly rare among white New Yorkers, especially wealthy white New Yorkers,” architectural historian Patrick Ciccone told the news outlet. “[Brewster] was the builder of the house, and he was able to make these choices and design it.”…