“My research project focused on a rural, southwestern Michigan region called Cass County, which has a unique pre-Civil War history. Many Cass County Quakers were Underground Railroad station masters, which led to a slave raid by Kentucky slave owners, the establishment of a fugitive slave settlement called Ramptown, and has since celebrated its successful abolition movements with a local historical society’s annual summer festival called Underground Railroad Days.
I chose this topic because my family used to own a small lake house in the area, where we frequently drove by a colorful mural depicting the slave raid. This sparked my interest in learning about Cass County’s history and how it connects to the larger, national pre-Civil War history. I hope to potentially make my project into a thesis where I would plan to interview the historical society members and other Cass County residents.”