WHAT: Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and others will announce a freedom marker to honor “Ben,” who escaped slavery on Sept. 13, 1864. The event takes place during International Underground Railroad Month, which is recognized in September because well-known freedom seekers and Underground Railroad operatives, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, escaped from slavery in that month. Philanthropist William O. Perkins III, who donated the Ben marker, initiated the Freedom Marker project that resulted in a searchable database of more than 10,000 enslaved people who sought their freedom by running away.
WHO: Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner
University of Houston-Downtown President Dr. Loren Blanchard
William O. Perkins III, Marker Donor
Aris Kian Brown, Houston Poet Laureate
WHEN: Wednesday, Sept.13, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
WHERE: University of Houston-Downtown | 1 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002 | GSB 302 TDECU Tour Room, 3rd Floor
VISUALS: A life-size replica of the freedom marker.