Getting to Know Levi Coffin

Now that we have taken our fieldtrip we are ready to start thinking about our project.  We are going to be creating a virtual fieldtrip to the Levi Coffin House.  Think about all of the things that you learned while visiting the house that you didn’t know from your research before you went.  How can we help students who can’t visit the house to feel as though they were there? 
 
As you begin thinking about what you would like to see on our website, take a look at some other virtual fieldtrips or virtual museum tours.  What have they included that makes it easier for you to feel like you are there?  What parts of their site make it hard for you to picture and how would you do it differently?  Post links that you think we should look at for ideas as we work on our project.
 

Now that you have an idea of who Levi Coffin was and know a little bit about the Underground Railroad, it is time for the real investigating to begin!  Next week we will take a field trip to the Levi Coffin house.  While we are there, we will be given a guided tour of the house and the property.  Before you go, I want you to think about what you would like to learn while you are there.  What questions do you want answered?  If you were a student who lived far away and could not visit the Levi Coffin house but wanted to learn more about it and about the Coffin’s themselves, what would you want to see and hear?  As you tour through the house, ask questions and take notes.  Think about things that you see that seem interesting or out-of-the-ordinary.  What surprises you?  What catches your interest and makes you want to learn more?  After the field trip, type up your notes and post them here.

Once you have visited the Levi Coffin house website, you should recognize the name Eliza Harris.  Not only is Eliza Harris a character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin but she is actually someone that Levi Coffin wrote about in his own autobiography.  According to Levi Coffin, Eliza Harris was a slave living a comfortable life in Kentucky with her one remaining child (having buried two other children already).  However, her owner got into some trouble and decided to sell Eliza and her child separately.  To avoid this separation, Eliza ran away – planning to escape by crossing the frozen Ohio river.  Listen to Levi Coffin’s own words being read aloud as he tells of Eliza’s crossing of the river. 
 
You can view Levi Coffin’s autobiography yourself and read the rest of Eliza’s story.  When you finish, browse through some of the other stories.  Which story is your favorite?

For those slaves attempting to escape to freedom, there were no written directions, or signs to announce which houses were safe.  One way that slaves shared information was in carefully coded songs that they would teach each other to sing.  One such song is “Follow The Drinking Gourd”.  According to the story, a man named Peg Leg Joe traveled from plantation to plantation, teaching slaves this song which became the mental roadmap for many who later escaped from slavery in Alabama and Mississippi.  Listen to the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” being read aloud as a poem.  Then visit the Pocantico Hills Central School website to read what direction each stanza is giving.
 
After listening to the reading and visiting the website, please select one of the following options:
 
Option 1:
Because most slaves could not read, and none of them were safe to travel along the roads, their path was directed using the stars and major landmarks such as rivers and mountains.  Once you have listened to the lyrics and understand the path that was being directed, think about how difficult creating lyrics like this might be.  If you were going to give someone coded directions from the school to your house without referring to a specific direction or a particular road, how hard would it be?  Try it and then post yours here.
 
Option 2:
Slaves escaping from Alabama and Mississippi used “Follow the Drinking Gourd” as their roadmap to safety in the north.  Once you have listened to the lyrics and visited the website, find a United States Map and see if you can trace the path to freedom that is described in this song.  Upload a digital image of your map here once you have completed this activity.

As you begin to get to know Levi Coffin, take a few minutes to investigate the Wayne County website for the Levi Coffin house at http://www.waynet.org/nonprofit/coffin.htm.  This site will give you a great introduction to who Levi and Catherine Coffin were.  Once you have visited the site, post a reflection on what you saw.  Did you learn anything you didn’t already know?  What do you want to know more about?

If you live in or around Fountain City, Indiana you are sure to know the name Levi Coffin.  But, what do you really know about Levi Coffin?  Levi Coffin, along with his wife Catherine, helped thousands of slaves escape to freedom.  For this, Levi Coffin is known as the President of the Underground Railroad. 

The Underground Railroad was in fact not a railroad at all.  Instead, it was a route to freedom for escaping slaves that was made possible by many people who risked their own safety to help these freedom seekers.  Levi Coffin was one of those risk-takers.  He and his wife opened their home to the fleeing slaves – feeding and clothing them, and in many cases, housing them until they were strong enough or safe enough to continue their journey to freedom.

 As we investigate the Coffins together, we will be using this blog as a place to share our thoughts and ideas.  As we go through this project, initially I will be posting activities or assignments that I would like you to complete.  Once you begin to learn about the Coffins I would like you to share your thoughts and even your questions here as comments so that we can all learn from each other’s experiences.  I am excited about this investigation and I hope you are too!