By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
A visit to the Geneseo Historical Museum left a lasting impression on Bailey Callahan of Moline.
Callahan, the daughter of Michael and Amie Callahan, and a Moline High School sophomore, was instrumental in fundraising for a sign, now in place on the front of the museum that recognizes the museum as at one time being used to help hide slaves on their journey to freedom north to Canada along the Underground Railroad.
Amie Callahan, back left, and her daughter, Bailey Callahan, back right; both of Moline; and in front, Luanne Bruckner, seated at left, of Thompson, IL, and Angie Snook, Geneseo, are shown by the sign that was recently presented to Snook at an Honor Awards Ceremony of the DAR-CAR (Daughters of the American Revolution and Children of the American Revolution) held in Springfield. Photo by Claudia Loucks
Callahan’s interest in the Underground Railroad began when she first visited the museum with her local CAR Society (Charles Carroll Society), which is under the umbrella of the Illinois Society Children of the American Revolution.
Angie Snook, who was then curator/director of the museum, took the group on a tour of the historic house and shared many stories from the past, including that of the hiding hole located in the basement of the museum.
“We got to see the hiding hole in the basement of the museum and hear the stories,” she said. “I especially remember hearing about the two men who dressed in funeral clothes (women’s 1800’s mourning clothes) and walked past the slave hunters without the slave hunters realizing the ‘women’ were actually the escaped slaves. That visit sparked my interest in learning about the Underground Railroad.”
She read books about Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth; and others, “and I took my home school group to the museum in 2019 to show them the hiding hole,” Callahan said.
Callahan shared that her family is very active in the Children of the American Revolution (CAR) which she said was founded in 1895 by Harriett Lothrop and is the oldest youth patriotic organization in the United States…Callahan followed in the footsteps of her mother, uncle, and two of her older siblings when she became State President of the Illinois Society Children of the American Revolution and served in that post from April 2023—April 2024.
Each year the State President designs and implements a project and the project usually has two main parts.
“One part is about education and the other is a related fundraiser,” Callahan explained. “For my project, I chose the theme ‘Broken Chains: Aiding Freedom’s Journey’ One of the things my visits to the museum taught me was that the Underground Railroad happened here in Illinois. It wasn’t just a story from a history book. It was real. Slavery was a horrible thing, but people in Illinois took the risk to help people in need. I wanted the members of the Illinois CAR to learn about how people in their own communities helped others along the Underground Railroad.”
The CAR members were asked to research the Underground Railroad in their communities and to design a quilt block that represented how their community “Aided Freedom’s Journey” and the quilt top has been assembled and is being hand-quilted.
“It will be on display at the Geneseo Historical Museum when it is finished,” Callahan said.
She also designed a pin that has symbols representing the Underground Railroad – a railroad, a lantern (conductor) and broken shackles…”We sold the pins for $10 each and I also sold tote bags that were designed with the emblem of the Underground Railroad, T-shirts and some chocolate bars. The money from this fundraising was used to pay for two signs at the Geneseo Historical Museum and for some repairs at the Jacksonville African-American History Museum. The JAAHM is a new museum which is located in the Asa Talcott House in Jacksonville. Asa Talcott bought the house in 1833 from Joseph Duncan before Duncan became Governor of Illinois. Talcott and his wife, Marie, hid slaves in their barn before sending the slaves to Woodlawn Farm and on to Canada.”
The sign is on the front of the Geneseo Historical Museum identifying the Museum as a site of the hiding hole for the Underground Railroad. There also is a second sign from the DAR-CAR identifying the museum as the Richards-Thede Historical Home of the Underground Railroad, and that sign will be put in place by the front walkway. Photo by Claudia Loucks
“We also sold engraved bricks for the site as Asa Talcott was a bricklayer,” Callahan added. “The total amount raised for the project was just over $14,000 before taking out the costs for sales items.”
Callahan estimated that she gave approximately 50 presentations about her project and those presentations included stories she heard from Angie Snook.…”We learned about People in Hutsonville, IL (along the Indiana border), Sheldon Peck in Lombard, the Lovejoy brothers, the Abbott family in Morrison and the Phelps family along the Spoon River among others,” she said.
“One of my favorite quotes is found in the exhibit in Geneseo,” Callahan said. “It says ‘Freedom is the result of daily choices made by ordinary people'. I think this quote speaks to how people stood up for freedom then, and inspires us to stand up for what we think is right today.”
Callahan designed the project when she was 13 years old and served as State President at the age of 14.
After serving as State President this last year, she was elected to the National Board of CAR as the National Vice President of the Great Lakes Region which includes Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.
In July, she helped plan and preside over the Great Lakes-Mid Southern Regional meeting in Covington, KY, where 180 people participated.
As a Moline High School sophomore, Callahan is in band, orchestra, and choir and plays soccer. She also is active in 4-H where she participates in Horse Bowl and Hippo logy (study of the horse) and serves on the Illinois State 4-H Influencers Team (social media).