Rooted Wisdom: Nature's Role in the Underground Railroad
Guided Experience at Adkins Arboretum
Explore Adkins Arboretum with historian Anthony Cohen to understand how self-liberators used the natural landscape to forge a path to freedom.
Their methods for navigating, concealing themselves, finding food, and evading capture reflect a deep connection to, and understanding of, the natural landscape. Filmed over the course of a year, this project explores Adkins Arboretum on Maryland’s Eastern Shore through the seasons and brings history alive in the landscape you see today.
The guided experience includes a five-part film series accompanied by a collection of resources that invite viewers to continue their journey of discovery at the Arboretum and beyond.
Visit rootedwisdom.org to begin.
Explore Rooted Wisdom: Nature’s Role in the Underground Railroad
- Learn more about Rooted Wisdom: Nature's Role in the Underground Railroad
- Rooted Wisdom: Nature's Role in the Underground Railroad Arboretum field trips for school groups
- Audio tours at the Arboretum available on Rooted Wisdom Walks — a free guide on Bloomberg Connects
- Adkins Arboretum on the Rooted Wisdom Podcast
If you're excited about what you've seen and wish to help us move forward with this initiative and future programming, please consider donating.
The Rooted Wisdom: Nature’s Role in the Underground Railroad Guided Experience is a Beech Works production in collaboration with The Menare Foundation, Inc. It was produced in partnership with Adkins Arboretum and is based on work assisted by a grant from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), funded by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASALH or the Department of the Interior.
Special thanks to the Dock Street Foundation, Mary Beth Durkin, and Hugh Panero for their generous support in promoting the Rooted Wisdom: Nature’s Role in the Underground Railroad guided experience and film.
