Underground Then as Now: Seeking Traces of the Underground Railroad in the Mount Gilead AME Church Cemetery

Summary

Mount Gilead AME Church in southeastern Pennsylvania formed the heart of a rural African American community throughout much of the 19th century. Oral history associates it with the Underground Railroad, but with little specificity. Since most of the church's congregation has dispersed over the past century, its extant cemetery is the main location where much of the church's history can be reconstructed. This study uses spatial, demographic, and GPR data from the cemetery as well as archival research to understand the makeup and history of the 19th-century community and to determine whether the cemetery itself can provide clearer connections to the Underground Railroad.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Current Research in Mortuary Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 437