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A New Canvas for Extraordinary Stories

The Underground Railroad: Freedom Seekers

Project Services

  • Concept development
  • User interface design
  • Software development
  • Graphic/visual design
  • Motion graphics
This exhibit at the historic Mt. Clare Station in Baltimore, part of the B&O Rail Museum, examines the role of the physical railroad in the Underground Railroad network and gives an intimate look at the lives and journeys of the brave, ingenious individuals who sought freedom from slavery along the B&O.

 

Seeking Freedom is an immersive experience that surrounds visitors on three sides with 10 foot high projections and a powerful soundtrack telling the stories of William and Ellen Craft and Henry “Box” Brown. The sound design includes first person narration pulled from the Crafts’ own account and the song ‘Escape From Slavery’ written by Henry Brown. It was arranged and performed especially for the museum by the Howard University’s Afro Blue Jazz Ensemble. The animations fold visitors into the experience of the people who lived these journeys, conveying both the extreme claustrophobia of Henry Brown’s passage north in a freight box – the walls of the theater turning into the box’s planks – and the panic of the disguised Ellen Craft as she is approached by a friend of her enslaver on a rail
car headed north.

Additionally, visitors can dive into Freedom Journeys, an interactive database and map that highlights the various routes of many others who sought freedom along the B&O Railroad. A custom CMS will allow the museum to add more routes and stories as research continues and more history is uncovered.

 

 

 

Partners
Design Minds
ColorAd
Howard University’s Afro Blue Jazz Ensemble