This project supported students from Harrison North Elementary in attending a Living History Program to learn about the Underground Railroad.

Making history tangible for students through direct participation in programs like Living History has tremendous power to cement lessons learned while instilling a love for history and its connections to our present day. Often students in our region are not able to participate in field trips that bring their lessons alive because of the costs associated with those trips.

This project allowed 34 fifth graders at Harrison North Elementary to experience what they learned in the classroom by attending a Living History Program. The program taught students the history of the Underground Railroad by taking students back to 1851 and helping them to see historical events through the eyes of a runaway slave, travelling from the American south to Canada. The field trip helped students empathize with African Americans who experienced slavery, and encouraged them to compare the racism of enslavement with modern day racism, discrimination, and prejudice.

Funding through the Cause Connector pilot project was crucial to making the field trip a success, because the costs associated with participating in a field trip like this one are often prohibitive for students and their families.