Historic NY church added to Harriet Tubman Pilgrimage Trail
A historic church in New York that helped runaway slaves has been added to a trail honoring 19th century abolitionist Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.
Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church of Binghamton recently unveiled a new marker noting their status as being one of 13 locations on the Binghamton Freedom Trail.
The Harriet Tubman Center for Freedom and Equity, founded in 2019 and based at Binghamton University, placed the first markers of the Freedom Trail in March.
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Tubman Center Director Anne C. Bailey told The Christian Post that the church was added to the Freedom Trail “because of its significance in the Underground Railroad network.”
The Trinity AME Zion technically received two markers, according to Bailey, with one being placed at the church’s original downtown Binghamton location and one at its current campus “to signify that the church is alive and well and still active in community issues.”
“Members of the church welcomed runaways and helped them get settled. This was a well-known destination for those seeking refuge and safety from the institution of slavery,” she said.
“Pastors and elders of the church over the years before the end of the Civil War were courageous individuals who not only helped runaways get settled, but as in the case of the Rev. Jermain Loguen, sometimes called ‘The King of the Underground Railroad,’ also preached to an integrated congregation, which in and of itself was groundbreaking.”
Bailey also told CP that “churches played a very important role in the Underground Railroad network,” and that the concept of Christian brotherhood influenced the anti-slavery movement.
“In fact, the abolitionist motto and emblem ‘Am I not a man and a brother’ referred to this idea that there was a brotherhood or should be a brotherhood — a common humanity — shared by all Christians, regardless of their color,” she added.
The Rev. Damond Wilson, pastor at Trinity AME Zion, told station WBNG 12 that his church was honored by the marker.
“Not everyone can say that they have been around for 185 years,” Wilson said. “Everyone can’t say that they were a member of the Underground Railroad.”
“Everyone can’t say that Harriet Tubman actually passed by on her way leading others to freedom. So when we’re able to come together to celebrate an occasion like this, it means something.”
