Results tagged “Wm. Lee Smallwood” from York Town Square

Crispus Attucks Association's Cindy Leiphart can be seen in a room in the former home of William C. Goodridge that was reportedly used to hide fugitive slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. A hole in the floor above the room was formerly covered by a trapdoor. Background posts: Stack of books on York County's Civil War past getting higher and Research needed to unearth Underground Railroad in York County - Part I and 10 years ago, York's exclusive Lafayette Club became less exclusive, Part III.

The life and times of William C. Goodridge's former slave who became a successful 19th-century York businessman were filled with controversy.

He and his family developed national applause despite - or maybe because of - these obstacles.

I made that point in an upcoming York Sunday News column (3/01/09) and urge readers to get behind efforts to create a Goodridge Freedom House and Underground Railroad Museum in Goodridge's former residence.

In addition to honoring this community leader, the museum could become a center for studying York County's still-obscure Underground Railroad history... .

David Rusk was not the only provocative speaker at the York City Human Relations Commission's 25th Annual Frederick D. Holliday banquet this week.

Retired York City Schools administrator Julia Hines-Harris stated point blank that Holliday, former city schools superintendent, did not commit suicide inside a Cleveland school in 1985.

After his seven-year stint in York, Doc Holliday, respected by many in York, left Pennsylvania to head schools in Plainfield, N.J., and then Cleveland.

Harris provided several arguments to support her view, including: