2A - Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Ann Arbor's abolitionists
Today, the intersection of
Huron and Division Streets offers
hectic traffic, local news, delivery
pizza and gyros.
But in 1836, the corner lot now
occupied by The Ann Arbor News
was a First Presbyterian Church,
which served as headquarters to
the Michigan State Anti-Slavery
Society.
The society was one of Ann
Arbor's many contributions to the
abolitionist movement 25 years
before the Civil War.
Seventy-five anti-slavery activ-
ists from around the state gath-
ered at the inaugural meeting that
November to adopt 14 anti-slavery
resolutions. One of the members
present was Ann Arbor resident
Guy Beckley.
Beckley, a local reverend,
played a large role in Ann Arbor's
anti-slavery activism, serving on
the Executive Committee of the
Anti-Slavery Society in 1840 and
served as the vice president in
1845.
In 1841, he became the publish-
er and co-editor of The Signal of
Liberty, the nationally distributed
and recognized abolitionist news-
paper.
The paper succeeded The Free-
man, the abolitionist newspa-
per that was printed in Jackson,
Mich.
Out of the Presbyterian Church,
Beckley and co-editor Theodore
Foster published stories about the
horrors of slavery and the lives of
fugitive slaves who were traveling
through Michiganto Canada.
Beckley, who lived on Pon-
tiac Trail with his wife Phyla and
their eight children, also opened
his house to slaves traveling from
the South on the Underground
Railroad.
If caught, Beckley faced up to
six months in jail and a $1,000
fine under the federal Fugitive
Slave Act.
Sixteen-year-old Caroline
Quarlls, the first slave to travel
Wisconsin's Underground Rail-
road, was said to have stopped
at Beckley's home on her way to
Canada. In a book of Wiscon-
sin History, her travel partner
Lyman Goodnow wrote that in
Ann Arbor, "we were entertained
by the editor of the Abolitionist
paper published in that place."
Beckley helped traveling
slaves, cooperating with other
stops in Southeastern Michigan
until he died in 1847. His home,
the Rev. Guy Beckley House at
1425 Pontiac Trail, is still stand-
ing today.
SARA LYNNE THELEN
The First Presbyterian Church, formerly on the corner of Huron
and Division Streets, was part ofthe Underground Railroad in the
1840s. The Ann Arbor News now occupies the property.
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The Michigan Daily(ISsN0745-967) is pubished MondaythroughFriday during thefalland wi'
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CRIME NOTES
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Spilled ethanol Dorm drywall Politics lecture
causes small fire damaged WHAT: A lecture on the
psac aci a
WHERE: Medical Science
Research Building I
WHEN: Monday at about 2:45
p.m.
WHAT: A staff worker acci-
dentally started a fire after
splashing a small amount of
ethanol on the counter, Univer-
sity Police reported. The etha-
nol caught fire after he struck
a match to sterilize equipment.
The fire was immediately
extinguished and no damage
occurred.
WHERE: South Quad
WHEN: Monday at about1:15
p.m.
WHAT: University Police
discovered that holes had been
punched into the building's
drywall. The damage occurred
sometime between last Friday
and Monday and caused about
$100 of damage. Police have no
suspects.
Trtr k l~irc
woe o tiCai movements
of Central Asia
WHO: Weiser Center for
Emerging Democracies
WHEN: Today at noon
WHERE: School of Social
Work Building, room 1636
J. Lyons of Second Baptist
Church ofAnnArbor will
lead aprayer service.
WHO: Mustard Seed Cam-
pus Ministry, Black Student
Union
WHEN: Tonight from 9 to
11 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan Union,
Michigan Student Assembly
Chambers
2 Vs. 2 Halo 3 Student design
I sUKndILIIg
'U' bus hits car road hits pole
WHERE: Intersection of Hill
and State Streets
WHEN: Monday at about 8 p.m.
WHAT: A University bus hit
a parked car, University Police
reported. The bus swerved into
the vehicle due to icy condi-
tions, but no one was injured.
Neither the bus nor the car was
damaged.
WHERE: West Quad
WHEN: Monday at about 12:50
p.m.
WHAT: A University grounds
truck backed into a pole, Uni-
versity Police reported. The
truck had been salting the road
when the accident occurred.
The pole sustained damage; the
truck did not.
tournament
WHAT: A free video game
tournament open to all stu-
dents. First and second place
finishers win gift certificates
or cash prizes.
WHO: University Unions
Arts & Programs,
WHEN: Tonight from 8 to
11 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan Union,
Billiards and Games Room
Prayer service
WHAT: Reverend Mark
expo event
WHAT: A trade show fea-
turing the student-designed
"Disaster Area Personal
Hygiene Stations."
WHO: The Tauber Insti-
tute for Global Operations
WHEN: Tonight from 6 to
8 p.m.
WHERE: Duderstadt Center,
gallery
CORRECTIONS
" Please report any error
in the Daily to correc-
tions@michigandaily.com.
The District of Columbia
CityCouncil is considering
allowing city bars to serve
alcohol until 5 a.m. and stay
open 24/7 the week of Pres-
ident-elect Barack Obama's
inauguration in January.
According to Google
Analytics report, 252
visitors to michigandai-
ly.com this semester arrived
there by searching "donkey
punch sex."
FOR MORE, SEETHE STATEMENT
Conductor Michael Tilson
Thomas and composer
Tan Dun have partnered
with YouTube to audition Car-
negie Hall hopefuls, the video
site announced Monday. The
winners will be flown to New
York for a special workshop and
performance this April.
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