Louisville to Liberty: The Blackburns' Journey

In the afternoon of July 3, 1831, Thornton and Lucie Blackburn made a daring escape from their enslavers in Louisville, Kentucky, eventually making it to Toronto, Canada. Their story was nearly forgotten until archaeologists discovered their home while working in a school yard.

Site director Dr. Karolyn Smardz Frost spent more than 20 years piecing together Thornton and Lucie’s story. From her research, Dr. Smardz Frost wrote I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad. It is the first birth to death biography of a freedom-seeking couple published since the Civil War.

In Louisville to Liberty: The Blackburns’ Journey, visitors will learn more about Thornton and Lucie Blackburn and their journey to freedom. For the first time ever displayed in the United States, the exhibition will include objects belonging to Thornton and Lucie that were uncovered in the archaeological excavation.

It was necessary for Thornton and Lucie to leave Louisville to escape bondage. Louisville to Liberty: The Blackburns' Journey welcomes their story back to Kentucky.