GLENDALE, Ohio — It’s dark, and Megan Johnson ducks her head into the basement.
“Watch your step,” Johnson said. “It’s really low here.”
She’s been here before. And even though she’s talking about the past, she can’t help but think about the future.
“It’s just a lot of emotion,” Johnson said. “It’s powerful.”
Glendale’s past could change what you think about the Underground Railroad:
Outside, Johnson flips through documents her grandparents collected over the years. They tie her ancestry to abolitionist Jon Van Zandt. Van Zandt owned enslaved people in Kentucky, but then moved to Ohio — to this property in Glendale — and set them free.
In 1842, he was arrested. His case, which ultimately challenged the legality of slavery, went all the way to the Supreme Court. He lost, and he eventually died in prison.
“People were really just waiting for a moment,” Johnson said. “And this was the moment.”
In the basement of what used to be Van Zandt's home, Johnson turns on a light. She’d heard some of these stories, but it wasn’t until she met Bill Parrish that she fully connected the dots.
“There’s a lot that we don’t really talk about,” Parrish said.
Parrish grew up in Glendale and is now working to restore a once segregated school there. He remembers a Black side of town, a white side of town and a train whistle you could hear from both. Parrish has been studying this small village’s connection to the Underground Railroad for almost a decade now.
He said he believes it’s far more important than most realize.
“You had more than people just scurrying through woods. You had this major plan,” Parrish said. “And in many ways, I feel like the Civil War started here.”
Outside the former Van Zandt property, Parrish points to the highway.
“This was one of the entrances right there. There were two tunnels that led out from the basement,” Parrish said. “They came to this house —through those two tunnels — and then went north.”
While driving around Glendale, Parrish points out things that are significant to the Underground Railroad. He tells me the village was founded to create a safe place for people trying to escape slavery.
“Here’s what courageous looks like. We’re just here to share that with you,” Parrish said. “It’s an American history story. I think that’s why we came up with the tour.”
The tour Parrish is talking about takes people through these places. He says it's meant to start a conversation. Standing in a tunnel, slightly bent over, he frowns. Then, he laughs. Because he says he will always remember this.
“It’s all about having an experience," Parrish said. "Like you were there.”
Tours are expected to open to the public next year. For more information, click on this link.
