Bringing History to Life
Monument to Lewis & Harriet Hayden and Lexington’s Underground Railroad
This monument is an effort to memorialize our cruel history of slavery and to help us heal from it, to honor Lewis and Harriet Hayden, two of Lexington’s enslaved who became famed abolitionists, to remember the stories of other enslaved persons in Lexington and to commemorate their paths to freedom via Kentucky’s Underground Railroad.
Artist Selected
Basil Watson was selected by the Lex Freedom Train Committee as well as valuable input from community voices.
Fighting for Freedom: Lewis Hayden and the Underground Railroad follows the story of Lewis Hayden's escape to Massachusetts and the network of the Underground Railroad that spans the United States. Find out more about the Underground Railroad at www.nps.gov/ugrr and more about the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program at www.nps.gov/ntf. Produced by: Northern Light Productions Directed by: Jenny Alexander Written by: Ben Avishai Edited by: Jesse Beecher Executive Producer: John Grabowska Director of Photography: Jesse Beecher Music by: Killer Tracks and Musicbed Featuring song "At the Purchaser's Option" by Rhiannon Giddens
Prof. Allison describes the life and accomplishments of Lewis Hayden, and how he contributed to the Underground Railroad. This course explores the history of Boston from the 1600’s to the present day. Learn about the native people who lived on the land we now know as Boston before the Puritans arrived. Discover how the European settlers created a robust system of self government and a democracy so strong that Boston became the birthplace of the Revolutionary War. Trace the city’s role in the American anti-slavery movement and the Civil War. The course will help you understand why Boston remains revolutionary to this day, redefining education, the arts and medicine, through its world-class museums, orchestras, hospitals and schools. Learn more: historyofboston.org
Lewis Hayden
MS Am 2420, (14), Houghton Library, Harvard University
Harriet Bell Hayden
Division of Political History, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
