Community Corner
County, BCC Come to Rescue of Underground Railroad Center
After struggling financially, the Underground Railroad Educational Center may find a new home with Burlington County College.
Burlington County College, in partnership with the county, has stepped in to give the Underground Railroad Educational Center a new home.
The Underground Railroad Educational Center, formerly housed on Union Street in Burlington City, has recently fallen on hard times, which has resulted in the center losing its lease in Burlington City. Freeholder Director Joe Donnelly asked the college to assist the center in finding a new space, and it responded by suggesting its new Willingboro Town Center location, which is ideally located along the Route 130 corridor.
“This is a significant piece of Burlington County and, quite frankly, national history that needs to be safeguarded for future generations to explore and learn,” said Donnelly. “When I read about their difficulties in the paper, I knew right away that the county was going to do everything we could to help them out.”
Donnelly has asked his staff and members of the college to reach out to Louise Calloway, the founder of the center, and work with her to explore the feasibility for moving the center to the college and, if so, to quickly develop a plan for moving forward.
The nonprofit center has served as an educational center for students, a museum, a library, a coffeehouse and an exhibition space for artists and performers, making the college an ideal partner and its Willingboro Center a perfect location close to its original site in Burlington City.
“In addition to providing a location for the center, this partnership also provides an exceptional learning opportunity for our Burlington County College students to experience more about the Underground Railroad and the role Burlington County played in this important part of American history,” said Donnelly.
For more information about the Underground Railroad Educational Center, visit its website here.
Provided by the Burlington County Office of Public Information
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