National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Civil War Programming and Exhibitions
Liberty on the Border
Here, in Cincinnati, just a few hundred yards of water separated North and South, but the way liberty was defined and cherished on each side, was night and day. Discover the stories, see how the Civil War was fought, in your own backyard, as the rebirth of a nation is relived in the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center’s Civil War exhibition for 2011, Liberty on the Border.
Liberty on the Border is an exhibition about a young nation and its struggle to define what liberty meant for its citizens – a struggle that led to the American Civil War. The exhibition focuses on the Ohio – Kentucky border in the midst of war, a microcosm of the war that divided our land and many of our brothers and families in a battle to define “Liberty for All.”
The exhibition is divided into three sections.
“Liberty Denied”
“Liberty Denied” reveals the turbulent Pre-Civil War era – the conflicting definitions of liberty, laws created to regulate freedoms, the rise of abolitionists, and a border region’s role in the politics that finally pushed us to the brink of war.
What did liberty or freedom mean to people in the first half of the 19th century? Freedom was not guaranteed by the Constitution or by the “creation” of free states. Discover how individual beliefs, economic demands and even our country’s laws supported racism, prejudice and the oppression of a large portion of the population.
“Liberty’s Trial: The War Years”
“Liberty’s Trial: The War Years” explores the reasons people fought in the war and how the war affected those at home. Discover the military and political role played by a border region in the execution of the war.
In the end compromise failed to resolve the heated issues surrounding slavery. It had come to war. Discover the personal motivations of people who fought in the Civil War. Experience the war through the eyes of soldiers, those at home and slaves. Learn about the crucial role played by a border region in the northern struggle to preserve the Union and eventually end slavery.
“Liberty’s Legacy”
“Liberty’s Legacy” shows how war memorials and the popular memory of the war reflected what people wanted to remember about our most divisive war. Discover the attitudes that eventually shaped the Civil War’s legacy in America.
Although Emancipation for slaves came with the Union’s victory, discover how racism was not defeated but, in fact, re-emerged as the country tried to heal its wounds. See a sample of our collective memory of the Civil War in memorials, films and popular culture. True equality – not just emancipation – would remain as a battle of the Civil War still to be won.
For more information about the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Civil War programming and exhibitions visit: www.freedomcenter.org 
- Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls for March 27 to be a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer.
- Following the Underground Railroad Route By Bicycle
- March is Women's History Month! Read the fascinating accounts of women spies hiding coded messages in women's hair, conductors of the Underground Railroad, soldiers disguised as men, surgeons, and advisors to the President!
- Teachers tackle race, economic disparity and history
- The President's Hymn: 'Give Thanks All Ye People'
- Thanksgiving Day during the Civil War
- Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation in a divided time: ‘one heart and one voice by the whole American People’
- What Abraham Lincoln found reading the Book of Job amid civil war
- Civil War stories on display at Lincoln Highway museum in Unity
- Who was Henry Benning, for whom Fort Benning in Columbus was named?
- Fort Gordon Army Base: Who was John Brown Gordon?
- From the Civil War to the football field, we have been celebrating the wrong values
- History and Healing: Removing Controversial Artifacts from the Civic Landscape
- How to Reframe the Civil War in the Classroom
- Man scores Abraham Lincoln autograph in box of trading cards
- Native Americans' role in the Civil War
- Abraham Lincoln Healed a Divided Nation. We Should Heed His Words Today.
- An escaped slave was the 'Florence Nightingale’ of Indiana's Civil War regiment
- A Southern Democrat survived impeachment trap and came to be in charge of Reconstruction
- New Statue Unveiled In Response To Richmond's Confederate Monuments