Special events planned for Minneapolis’ oldest cemetery after Underground Railroad designation

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery tells a pre and post Civil War story about the City of Minneapolis, which includes the final resting place for Black soldiers who fought for the Union Army, a woman who escaped slavery and joined a Minnesota regiment on the battlefield as a cook, and William Goodridge who ran an Underground Railroad through his home in York, Pennsylvania.

Cemetery gets Underground Railroad Distinction

What we know:

Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Minneapolis, established in 1853. Thousands of the city’s working class immigrants are buried there along with 500 of the city’s first African American citizens.

"These are the everyday people who built Minneapolis who lived in Minneapolis and traditionally haven’t had their stories told widely," says John Crippen, the Executive Director of the Hennepin History Museum.  "The cemetery does a great job of saying here’s how these people shaped the community we live in today," he adds.

Sue Weir is the president of the Board of Friends of Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery and a longtime historian.

She has researched the stories of the people who captured the attention of the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program.

Why it matters:

The Network to Freedom program honors, preserves, and promotes the history of the resistance to slavery. The designation makes the cemetery eligible for grant money and protect the property.

She says the founders of the cemetery were very active in the anti-slavery movement.

"Martin and Elizabeth Lehman, the original owners, were very much involved in the anti-slavery movement," says Weir. "They were Baptists and their church was involved."

Names that helped with the Designation

• Hester Patterson, Freedom Seeker. Patterson escaped slavery, worked as a cook on the battlefields, befriended a surgeon from Minneapolis who helped her get a train ticket to Minnesota.
• Woodford Anderson, Freedom Seeker, and U.S. Colored Troop soldier.
• Charles Broden, Freedom Seeker who, while was not an official member of the U.S. Colored Troop, performed manual labor duties for the Iowa unit.
• William Goodridge, abolitionist, and conductor on the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania.

The Work Behind the Designation

The backstory:

St. Paul native and genealogist Elyse Hill conducted research on Goodridge, Anderson and Broden and submitted her documentation to the National Park Service. Hill specializes in African American genealogy and has extensive experience researching the histories of formerly enslaved African Americans.

What you can do:

Over the next few months, a series of programs sponsored by Hennepin History Museum, the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery, and Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery will focus on the cemetery and African American genealogy in Minnesota. 

They are also planning a public event in June for the cemetery’s National Park Service designation.  Their event on Feb. 27 is sold out, but it will be recorded and later posted on Hennepin History Museum’s YouTube channel. You can check out the schedule of events at Hennepin History Museum’s website.

Dig deeper:

Last year, FOX 9 put a spotlight on William Goodridge's life as a hero of the Underground Railroad:

• William Goodridge: From slavery to hero of the Underground Railroad
• A hero of the Underground Railroad buried in Minnesota