WILLIAM N. DEBERRY SCHOOL - Monroe Street - Namedin honor Rev. William N. DeBerry, once pastor of St. John'sChurch, founder of the Dunbar Community Center on OakStreet, Camp Atwater, St. John's Parish Home for Girls, which isnow know as the Urban League of Springfield.

W.W. JOHNSON LIFE CENTER - 736 State Street - Namedafter William Williams Johnson who developed the Armory HillSteam Carpet Cleaning Company of W. W. Johnson & Son at227 Quincy Street.

MASON SQUARE FIRE STATION - Mason Square, StateStreet - The generosity of Primus Mason provided the City ofSpringfield with the location to build a much needed fire station.

REBECCA M. JOHNSON SCHOOL - 55 Catherine Street -Rebecca M. Johnson was Springfield's first black principal. Shewas a principal at William N. DeBerry, Tapley, and Mary M.Lynch Elementary Schools. She retired in 1975 from Mary M.Lynch School.

PRIMUS MASON HOME for the AGED - 74 Walnut Street -In his will Primus Mason allocated funding for the Primus Ma-son Home for "Worthy Aged Men." However African Ameri-cans were not invited to live there until several decades later.

ANNIE MCTIER HOUSE - 20-24 Wilbraham Avenue - Thehouse serves as a temporary home for single homeless women.Annie McTier was the first woman allowed to register to vote.

CARRIAGE SHOPS - Corner of Spring and Lyman Streets -The Shop was also an alleged hiding ground for fugitive slaves.It was the place of business for two carpenters, Deacon SamuelHarris and Samuel Davison.

PETER SWINCK - The first African American documented inWilliam Pynchon's records to reside in Western Massachusetts(records dated 1650).

HOME OF ELI BAPTIST - Baptist, the founder of the UnionBeneficial Association and the Sumner Lodge of Masons, is saidto have used his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

THOMAS THOMAS' HOUSE - Auburn Street - Thomas, avery successful businessman, owned and operated a popular res-taurant on Worthington Street in Springfield.

THOMAS THOMAS' RESTAURANT - Main Street - AbbeBlock and Worthington Street - Thomas Thomas was bestknown as a keeper of a little restaurant for 11 years in a littlebuilding on Main Street, where Abbe's Block was built, and for21 years on Worthington Street, just around the comer fromMain Street. In his small quarters Thomas entertained many dig-nitaries, court officials, business and professional men, who

were attracted there by the delicious dishes that he knew how toprepare. Thomas was dose friends with abolitionist John Brownand Abraham Lincoln.

PRIMUS MASON - Primus Mason was a distinguished andhighly respected citizen of Springfield, whose memory is perpet-uated in the Home for Aged Men on Walnut Street and by Ma-son Street named for him. As a young man he went to Californiain search of gold and accumulated a small fortune. Returning toSpringfield, he invested in real estate buying and selling smallparcels of land to the McKnight’s in the vicinity of WinchesterSquare, which was renamed Mason Square in his honor.

PRIMUS MASON HOUSE - Corner of State and MasonStreets - North of Primus Mason's house on Mason and Statestreets, beyond Big Goose pond, was a settlement of coloredpeople, and, it is said, a few Indians. This section was thencalled "Haiti," and the section north of State and east of Thomp-son was called "Jamaica." His house was demolished by the Cityof Springfield in 1975

WILLIAM MASON HOUSE - Corner of Bay and DartmouthStreets - William Mason was the brother of Primus Mason. Inthis house Henry P. Mason, a nephew of Primus lived for manyyears. This house traced back to the old "Haiti" days. The Ma-son house was demolished by the City of Springfield.

THE FIRST REGIMENT 5TH MASSACHUSETTSVOLUNTEER CAVALRY - The First Regiment 5th Massachu-setts Volunteer Cavalry was the first all African American Cal-vary Unit formed in the state. The 5th aided in the defense of thecapital and guarded Confederate prisoners in Maryland. TheSpringfield members were Gustaves Booth and Isaac Dorsey, amember of "D" Company.

SPRINGFIELD'S GLORY - The 54th Massachusetts Regi-ment was the first all African American Military Unit formed inMassachusetts. Members of Company "A" of the 54th fromSpringfield included Peter Johnson, Eli Wilson and William Oli-ver.

For guided tours and lecture information call:

PAHMUSA1500 Main St., Tower Square, Springfield, MA 01115Museum hours: Tuesday - Friday 12noon - 4:00PM,

Saturdays by appointmentTel/fax: (413) 733-4823 • Web: pahmusa.mysite.com

The following sponsors made this exhibit possible: Pictures on loan from Springfield Technical Commu-nity College, Dr. Cecelia Gross, curator of the African American Heritage Trail, The Primus MasonFamily, Springfield Armory Museum, The Western Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies,PAHMUSA, The Springfield African American Heritage Committee, The Connecticut Valley HistoricalMuseum, This program is supported in part by a grant from the Springfield Cultural Council, a localagency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency

Map: 2/3199 The Union-News & Sunday Republican. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

P A H M U S AThe Pan African Historical Museum USA

presentsTHE ROAD TO FREEDOM: The African American Experi-

encefeaturing

THE AFRICAN AMERICANHERITAGE TRAIL

An exhibit of sights, people and artifacts reflecting the lifeof African Americans in the greater Springfield community

dom would change their clothes in thislocation as they continued their journeynorth.

7 - FREE CHURCH SANFORDSTREET - Also known as the ZionMethodist Church - Located then onSanford Street, where the Civic Centerstands today, the church was known bya variety of names - Free Church, ZionMethodist and the Sanford StreetChurch, later becoming St. John's Con-gregational Church. It was organized in 1844 by members of thePynchon Street Society, a group of antislavery Methodists.

8 - U.S. HOTEL - Bates Tavern a.k.a.. Warriner's Tavern a.k.a..U.S.. Hotel - This Establishment, run by Jeremy and PhoebeWarriner, was a prime location for hiding fugitive Africans.

NAMES AND SITES ALONG THE AFRICANAMERICAN HERITAGE TRAIL

ST. JOHN'S CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH - 643 UnionStreet - The first African American church in Springfield, Al-though St. John's had gone through many name changes it re-mained the focal point of the African American community. St.John's has given birth to many community organizations such asDunbar Community Center, Camp Atwater, Roland T. HeacockCenter of Cultural Enrichment. St. John's also houses the Bibleof John Brown, an antislavery crusader. Former church membersinclude: the Rev. Fletcher McClean, the first black pastor of thechurch in 1891, the Rev. William N. DeBerry founder of theDunbar Community Center, Camp Atwater, and St. John's Par-ish Home for Girls, which is now know as the Urban League ofSpringfield. Primus Mason, an industrialist who donated theproperty known as Mason Square to the city was also a member.Rebecca Johnson, Annie McTier, the first woman, black orwhite, allowed to register to vote and Susan E. Rainey, wife ofJoseph Rainey - the first African American male to hold a seat inthe House of Representatives. St. John's served as a station onthe Underground Railroad. Among its more famous guest speak-ers were the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., author James Bald-win, Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth.

JOHN BROWN HOUSE - 31 Franklin Street - The home ofJohn Brown was said to be used to harbor African freedom seek-ers. In fact, when this structure was tom down it had a tunnelunderneath.

REUBEN ATWATER CHAPMAN LAW OFFICE - ByersBlock, Court Square - Reuben Chapman was head of the Emi-grant Aid Society and was said to be a major contributor to theefforts of the Underground Railroad in Springfield.

THE AFRICAN AMERICANHERITAGE TRAIL

The African American community in Spring-field dates back to its colonial beginnings tothe turbulent Civil War. It is a community ofmen and women who contributed their tal-ents to this great city as they fought for lib-erty and justice and their own freedom. It isa city of such prominent African Americansas Thomas Thomas. Annie McTier. Eli Bap-tist, and Primus Mason. It is a city of theUnderground Railroad with its secret hidingplaces in plain view on Main Street. It is a

city of champions! Come and hear their stories!

1 - MASSASOIT HOUSE - Owned by the Chapin’s, it was southof Railroad Street on the West side of Main Street. Among its fa-mous guests were Andrew Jackson, U.S.. Grant, General WilliamTecumseh Sherman, and the Prince of Wales. What people didn'tknow is that frequently enslaved Africans were concealed on thepremises. They were fed and cared for until arrangements could bemade to send them further north.

2 - SHOP OF RUFUS ELMER - Elmer, a local shop ownerwhose business was located on North Main Street, was a memberof the Antislavery Society. It is alleged that meetings involvingsupporters of the Underground Railroad had taken place at thislocation.

3 - JOHN BROWN'S WAREHOUSE - Warehouse of Perkins &Brown - John Brown and Simon Perkins were partners in the woolgrading business. This location not only served as a warehouse fortheir business but also as a hideout for freedom seeking Africans.

4 - PYNCHON STREET METHODIST CHURCH - The Pyn-chon Street Society was a group of antislavery Methodists whosplit off from the First Methodist Society. At the first officialboard meeting of the society, their church meetings were openedto blacks. It was in 1844 that the first home for the Zion Methodistor Free Church was built with the help of members of the PynchonStreet Church.

5 - OFFICE OF DR. JEFFERSON CHURCH - Dr. Churchmoved to Springfield in 1827. His office was located in the heartof Springfield's business district, on Fountain Row, opposite CourtSquare and very near the Free Church of the black community. Dr.Church was well known for his antislavery activities. He was anintimate friend of John Brown and Church's residence was said tobe a stop on the Underground Railroad in Springfield. Some es-caped Africans, staying in his house, even served as pallbearers athis funeral, among them Thomas Thomas and Eli S. Baptist. Bydefying sentiment, Church lost the practice of many aristocraticfamilies in Springfield because of his abolitionist involvement.

6 - OFFICE OF DR. GEORGE WHITE - His office not onlyserved as a place where medical business was conducted it alsowas used as a "dressing room." This "dressing room" was used byrunaway Africans as a changing area; persons in search of free-

MRS. ELLEN THORNTON AND FAMILY. Mrs. Ellen (extreme left) ran away from a plantationin eastern Maryland. She is one of many ex-slaves who escaped to Springfield traveling theUnderground Railroad.

Annie McTier Primus Mason

Map of Downtown Springfield