The students had been handwaved sent notice to meet at the parking lot on the far side of the causeway. They'd been told to dress for the weather and to wear shoes comfortable for walking in. There was a bus waiting for them. Jack checked them in and then hopped into the driver's seat. She explained about the trip while she drove.


"Today we're going on a trip. Sandy Springs, Maryland. It's a town that was settled by Quakers. They're a religious branch that believes in non-violence, and when I say that it is not with sarcasm or snideness. They walk the talk. They don't believe in violence of word or faith or deed. Which is completely backward from everything I ever known but it's their own truth. In the 1700s, the church in this town decided that all members would free their slaves and most of 'em lined right up and did. The first stop is the home of a Quaker family who refused to free their slaves and the Quaker church kicked 'em out of the church and basically ignored 'em from then on. Woodlawn Manor.

The town got famous as being a safe haven for escaped slaves from the South. The Quakers would supply 'em, hide 'em, and help 'em find their next stop. They stood up against soldiers and bounty hunters to help people escape. They didn't lie, they wouldn't break the law but they sure were good at doing nothing and doing it loudly. Standing in the face of a bounty hunter yelling questions and saying nothing.

It's not much of a hike. Total's about four miles if you do all the trails. You'll see along the way the waymarkers done as boulders and cairns to help lead the escapees to the next safe place. Also hollowed out trees that were used to hide caches of supplies and sometimes even people inside. Some of the trees out there, you'll see old scars and marks where people who didn't know how to read or write left their mark, left something behind just to say 'I was here; I existed; I lived.'

This part don't have an actual 'underground' to the 'underground railroad' but lots of places like this did. Not all of 'em Quaker run. Sometimes run by free people of color but lots of 'em run by white abolitionists. They had priest's holes, areas under floors where people could be hidden or secret basements or attics. Hollow walls or beams or storage barrels. It wasn't usually real tunnels. Mostly it's a term that just meant 'secret' or 'illegal'.

Sometimes people think that meant it all happened in the dark and at night but that's not so. The railroad abolitionists found clever ways to work in broad daylight and in public. They'd dress up slaves as different genders because if the hunters were looking for a young boy they sure weren't looking at the young girl in a dress or vice versa. They forged papers for 'em. Sometimes of ownership and sometimes of manumission depending on the situation. The ownership papers claimed the slave to be a different name, owned by a different person so the bounty hunters would keep going. When they could, they'd make maps done up in pictures because not a lot of escapees could read. That part was hard because the information kept changing. Sometimes a stop would get raided or compromised, or it'd be too hot with too many soldiers or bounty hunters around and it wouldn't be safe.

I want you to walk the trail, I want you to see all the markers and the cache drops, the hollow trees. The marks the escapees left. I want you to know of these people who ran away from an unjust society where they were considered property. They risked everything to get away from that. They deserve to be remembered.

Today's class has no homework. Not really. I just want you to walk and think about it. What you'd do if society was against you. Would you stay? Would you run? What would you need to survive? How would you find help and what would it mean to you for help to be offered?"



She let them think about it until they got to Sandy Springs and the Woodlawn Manor. As she checked them off the bus, she continued.

"For some of you, this class is way too real. I get it. Others of you, this is nothing you've ever had to think about before and it's heavy and I get that too. These last few classes have been to give you a foundation of how laws work. Next week I'm going to run you through how civil disobedience can help change a law. Then? We get into how to resist unjust laws and how to break them when they need to be broken. There's consequences to everything and we're gonna work on how to minimize them and what to do if you can't.

In this country, today's a holiday. It celebrates the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a black man during the era of segregation. He was spearhead for a lot of those non-violent protests and marches we talked about. He insisted that his people stay calm and non-violent and for the most part they did but the violence was done to 'em and it was done bad every time. He gave a famous speech and part of it, the most famous part, goes: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

Jack was quiet for a moment. "He gave that speech in 1963. In 1968 while organizing another rally, he was assassinated. His dream sounds like a fantasy. For all people to be decent to one another? Pfft. Right. People generally suck. But that's also kind of the great thing about people and a society - they can suck, but they can change. They can be changed. His dream? It's a good dream to have."

Another moment of silence.

"Go on. Get your hike on. If you get cold, come back here to the manor to warm up. There's snacks and hot drinks and stuff. If you need me, I'll be here. Don't worry about the time. It's 4th period, nobody's going to care if we're a little late getting back."

[OCD is up.]