George and Sarah Gammon built the house in 1850, the same year Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, and provided shelter, food and clothing for slaves on their journey to freedom. The Gammons raised seven children.
A Gammon House Tour and Ohio Underground Railroad Experience
The event will be held on Saturday, Feb. 3, from 1 to 3 p.m. at 620 Piqua Place in Springfield.
Participants will discover the history of the Underground Railroad and experience the bravery of those who risked everything for freedom.
The 1850 Kitchen Garden: Then & Now
The event will be held on Sunday, Feb. 18, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Gammon House Underground Railroad Site, 620 Piqua Place in Springfield.
During the event, guest lecturer Jim Embry, 2023 James Beard Award winner and Agrarian Intellectual Activist, will discuss the 1850 kitchen garden and share his insights into the past, present and future of kitchen gardens.
Embry, the great-grandson of enslaved Africans brought across the Appalachian Mountains, is the founder and director of the Sustainable Communities Network, contributing to the theory and practice of sustainable living at the local, national and international levels with a focus on food systems.
He has participated in most of the major social justice movements of his era and believes the sustainability movement encompasses all the other movements. In 2023, he was honored with the James Beard Foundation Leadership Award “for his lifelong work as a community activist advocating for sustainable living practices and Black and Indigenous rights.”
For the Facebook event page, visit www.facebook.com/events/1535867470526833?ref=newsfeed. For more information, visit https://gammonhouseoh.org/ or www.facebook.com/GammonHouseoh.
Healing Histories: A Community Conversation
Urbana’s Black Heritage Festival organizers will host this event on Thursday, Feb. 29, at 6 p.m. at the Gloria Theatre, 216 S. Main St. in Urbana.
“This year, we want to create a space where pain is acknowledged, where the stories of the past are heard, and most importantly where healing can begin. Join us for a step forward into transformational community change from the inside out,” according to a Facebook event page.
For more information, visit www.urbanablkheritagefest.com/ or www.facebook.com/urbanablackheritage.
If your organization is offering public local Black History Month events, email the information to sns-local@coxinc.com.
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