The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a must-visit for anyone touring the Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky area. Thank you to the National Underground Freedom Center for hosting my family and providing tickets for our visit.
Frederick Douglass once stated, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” As a mother of small children and a wife of a minister, I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. When my daughter, on her own accord, requested that we visit the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center on our recent spring break trip, I was happy to oblige her. My husband and I do not shy away from speaking truth to our daughter; we believe in learning from history in an attempt to not repeat it. She spoke as a narrator in a Black History Month play at her school at the end of February. After spending the month practicing for her program and learning about the people and events that led to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, she decided (on her own) that she wanted to visit the Freedom Center to learn more about the things her teacher had been sharing in class.
I had never heard of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center until my daughter came home requesting to go. But I’m a believer that we can learn from our children, making me happy to research more about the Freedom Center with her and to fit it into our schedule.
If you are heading to or through the Northern Kentucky or Cincinnati area, place the National Underground Freedom Center on your list of places to visit. It is highly educational for the entire family. Here are a few highlights from our visit that everyone, including the triplets, was able to learn from.
The Eternal Flame– Not only is the view off of the balcony remarkable, but the the symbolism behind the Eternal Flame is, as well.
The Slave Pen is an actual building that was torn down and rebuilt inside the Freedom Center.
The Rosa Parks Experience
Outside of the Freedom Center is a piece of the Berlin Wall.
While the name of the facility has the words “Underground Railroad,” the Freedom Center also has a section devoted to current slavery today (such as sex trafficking and child labor). The kind receptionist at the front recommended that we not visit the area with small kids, but my husband walked through the section.
The main recommendation that I have if you plan on visiting is to view the parking arrangements online prior. We had never been into downtown Cincinnati before, and we had no idea where to park. I think we drove around the block for 10 minutes. This was completely our fault for not researching it before arriving. The majority of parking is underground.
Have you ever visited? If so, what is your perspective of the experience?
What a great trip, it sounds like there is so much to learn here. I think it’s great that your daughter took so much interest in what she was learning at school – the teacher is certainly doing a wonderful job of engaging students. We love to visit historical places and museums. We just recently finished a trip to the freedom trail in Boston, so we will definitely have to add this to our list this summer!
Putting this on our travel bucket list. We love places with history that not only we can enjoy but help us learn as well. We homeschool and this would be a great place for a history lesson. Next time we are heading to Ohio we will make sure to stop and visit.
I know that my daughters would very much enjoy this experience. They are now 13 and 15 so this would be applicable to some of the content they have studied over the last couple of years. I am putting it on my list for sure. Thanks for the great review and I love the picture of your kids looking at the quilt. It is superb.
What a wonderful, educational place to visit. That quilt is quite extravagant and it is such a lovely shot of your kids exploring and learning something new. Looks like a wonderful trip to take with the fam.
What an incredible experience for all ages. I cannot wait until we can take a family trip to museums like this. I hope to do a big summer trip in about 5 years. This is one of the places we have on our list to stop. Thanks for the information. Looks so informative.
My husband and I are going to be driving through the area next month on the way to visit my daughter and her family. We’re always looking for fun diversions .. and I know he’d be up for it as well. I’ve always been a reader and stories of the Underground Railroad have always proven fascinating. Thank-you so much for your recommendation!
This history of the slave movement is really interesting to me. There’s so much rich history at this place and I learned a lot by reading this post.
Living in Upstate NY, the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman are mentioned often. I did not know that the National Underground Freedom Center existed, or that it is located in Cincinnati. I think the symbolism of an eternal flame is so powerful. That’s very cool that your daughter took the initiative to explore the Center on her own.
I would love to bring my children here. I think learning about our history is so key to being bet informed to get to our future.