Underground Railroad connection discovered in Manhattan museum

The Underground Railroad was an organized network in the United States that helped enslaved African Americans escape to freedom through safe houses and secret routes with the help of abolitionists, dating back to the 1700s and through the Civil War. 

Last month, Manhattan historians at the Merchant's House Museum connected a hidden passageway in the 19th century home to the Underground Railroad.

In the drawers of a built-in closet on the second floor of the home, archivists found a space with a ladder going down that could have been used as a secret passageway or hiding spot.

"We have an access point here, and it extends one floor below, but we're not sure whether there was a door below that or whether it was just a place someone might hide. There's lots of open questions still," said Camille Czerkowicz, curator and collections manager at the Merchant's House Museum. "What makes this so astounding is that you can see the intention in the way the lid was constructed."

The home was originally built by Joseph Brewster in 1832. In 1835, he sold the house to Seabury Tredwell and the Tredwell family who would go on to live there for almost 100 years. Recent research into Brewster's life revealed he was an abolitionist and was active in the anti-slavery movement. Brewster lived here for only three years. 

"That caused us to really take a deep look at what was in our institutional archive and reevaluate, in particular, this space," said Czerkowicz. "Even though enslavement was not legal in New York, New York was a pro-slavery place, and it was very dangerous for Black people and for any white person who spoke out against slavery."

The museum points to the uniqueness of the space as additional evidence that it was connected to the Underground Railroad. Czerkowicz explains that there are no other spaces like this safe house in the home or in similar townhouses of that period.

"The other piece of evidence that I think is really compelling, is that we know that when Joseph Brewster left this house in 1835, he moved downtown, where he was called to be a leader at a new church. And we know that as a leader in this church, he approved another secret space in that church," added Emily Hill-Wright, the Director of Operations at Merchant's House Museum. "And so it shows that he has a pattern of building these sort of hidden secret spaces into buildings."

Now with this discovery, the museum hopes to learn more about what other connections might be hidden in plain sight across New York City and reignited the museum's efforts to protect its landmark status. It also acts as a modern testament to the change everyday New Yorkers can make in the world around them. 

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