The Gateway to Freedom International Memorial to the Underground Railroad

The Gateway to Freedom International Memorial to the Underground Railroad. Edward Dwight sculpted this piece, which was dedicated in 2001 as part of Detroit centennial celebration. Historians estimate that up to 45,000 slaves passed through Detroit on the underground railroad. At first, Michigan was a destination for freedom seekers, and by the mid-1830s, there was a modest population of former slaves living here who aided other former slaves to escape to freedom. However, Canada became a safer sanctuary after slavery was abolished there in 1834. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made Canada all the more attractive. That's because the Act made it possible for slave catchers (or any white person) to claim that an African American was a runaway slave pending the decision of a special court that required only the testimony of one white person. The Fugitive Slave Act also barred the accused from defending themselves. This caused many runaways to leave their homes in Detroit and relocate to Canada. There is a companion piece to this statue located across the Detroit river in Windsor that depicts a former slave raising his arms to celebrate his emancipation while a Quaker woman offers assistance to a woman and her child as another child looks back toward Detroit.