In Pursuit of Freedom
      National Park Service's Underground Railroad Program Recognizes
                  Contributions of the Great Dismal Swamp

On February 13, 2004, the National Park Service will recognize the role of
the Great Dismal Swamp in the Underground Railroad during a luncheon at the
Chesapeake Conference Center, located at 900 Greenbrier Circle, Chesapeake,
VA. The event will include a formal ceremony recognizing the four sites
identified as part of the Great Dismal Swamp designation to the National
Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. The sites include: Great
Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, located in southeastern Virginia and
northeastern North Carolina; Dismal Swamp Canal, also located in Virginia
and North Carolina; North Carolina's Dismal Swamp State Park and the Dismal
Swamp Canal Welcome Center. Dan Sayers, an archeologist currently
researching African American occupation of the Great Dismal Swamp between
1790 - 1860, will describe his research and relate his findings thus far.
Following the ceremony, The Sweetest Sound, an African-American historical
music group, will perform. The National Underground Railroad Network to
Freedom Program is a network of sites, facilities and programs related to
the Underground Railroad. Administered by the National Park Service, the
Program provides technical assistance to organizations
that are attempting to identify, document, preserve and interpret sites,
approximate travel routes and landscapes related to the Underground
Railroad.

From the 17th century to the Civil War, the Great Dismal Swamp and the
Dismal Swamp Canal served as a refuge and route to freedom for thousands of
enslaved African-Americans. For some, the swamp offered a means to purchase
their freedom, through work on the canal, and in cedar and cypress timber
production. Others found refuge deep within the swamp, living off the land
and what they could steal. These "outlyers" established maroon communities
on the higher ground of the swamp. Still others, used the swamp as a
"stopping point" to get to Norfolk or Portsmouth, VA, or to the Albemarle
Sound and Elizabeth City, NC, where they could secure passage on a ship
traveling north. Despite the method or living conditions, the swamp
provided the means of freedom which so many sought. During the Civil War,
Union regiments of the United States Colored Troops under Brig. Gen.
Augustus Wild marched down the canal bank from Deep Creek, Virginia to
northeastern North Carolina, to liberate and recruit enslaved African
Americans.

The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is the first U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service facility and the first natural landscape to be added to
the Network. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was
established in 1974, as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
National Wildlife Refuge System, to protect what remained of the Great
Dismal Swamp. The refuge includes over 111,000 acres of forested swamp
habitat. Black bears, bob cats and other wildlife call the refuge home.
Over 70,000 people visit the refuge each year to observe wildlife and learn
more about this unique habitat.

The event is open to the public, however, reservations are required.
Tickets are $8.00/person and must be purchased by February 2, 2004. No
tickets will be sold the day of the event. For tickets and information,
contact Deloras Freeman or Julie Rowand at 757/986-3705.

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