SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – Michelle Sherburne will present the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program “A Closer Look at Vermonters and the Underground Railroad in the Pre-Civil War Era” on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 2 p.m., at the Nolin Murray Center next to St. Mary’s Church, on Pleasant Street in Springfield. This is on a Wednesday rather than a Tuesday, when the OLLI programs are usually held.
Building upon last year’s tremendous interest in Vermont’s role in the Underground Railroad, Sherburne will return for a closer look at its local history. We’ll zoom in on networking examples from four compass points in Vermont: Burlington, Springfield, Thetford, and Ferrisburg. In Burlington and Thetford, locals had a system in place to aid freedom seekers from one household to another discreetly, due to dangers of exposure, capture, and ruined reputations. Underground Railroad agents worked together to move people through their town northward to full freedom in Canada.
Another form of networking will be shared about the Robinsons in Ferrisburg, who used their Quaker ties and family connections to receive and pass along freedom seekers. We’ll meet Vergennes native Delia Webster, whose mission to help freedom seekers in Kentucky and Indiana made her notorious, for which she was in and out of jail and the news constantly. We’ll hear more about Springfield’s own Noah Safford and his association with New England abolitionists, and his local Springfield efforts of moving freedom seekers along the Underground Railroad.
Sherburne is an author, Vermont historian, and newspaper publisher. She has spent decades researching pre-Civil War and Civil War history, specifically about Vermont’s abolitionist movement and the effort to help freedom seekers in the Underground Railroad. She has written several books on the subjects.
Sponsored by the University of Vermont, OLLI is run by local volunteer members, and is geared mainly towards seniors who are 50 years of age and over who enjoy learning for the fun of it. Anyone who would be interested in this type of program, regardless of their age, is welcome. The programs are held Tuesday afternoons, at 2 p.m., and last about an hour and a half.
You may view the entire semester of programs by going to the website www.learn.uvm.edu/olli/springfield. Preregistration can be done online at this website with a credit card. You may also register over the phone, using your credit card, by calling 802-656-8407 during regular office hours, Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. There is a membership series fee, or nonmembers are welcome and encouraged to attend individual programs for a single program fee.
If you prefer to register by mail, send your contact information – name, address, phone number, and email address – indicating full series membership, or which specific program(s) you wish the attend. Mail this information and your check made out to “University of Vermont – OLLI” to UVM Non-Credit Registration Office, 85 South Prospect Street, Box 34, Burlington, VT 05405.
If mailing in the registration, please allow 10-14 days from the date of mailing check to receipt and processing.
If there are weather-related changes to the schedule, you can check the above website on the morning of the program.
The following program, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, will be “Vermont’s Supernatural Side: Chronicling Our State’s Ghost Stories and Unexplained Phenomena.” Joe Citro, a Chester native and Vermont’s expert in all things strange, will present this special Halloween program.