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Category: African Ancestors

The Spirit World: “I Hear You”

April 12, 2025 Ken Johnston

“I hear you,” I said to myself one recent evening after returning home from walking the dog. I was speaking…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, Canada, Emancipation Day, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Owen Sound, Underground Railroad, Walking

Walk to Freedom Route: Galveston to Houston

June 17, 2024 Ken Johnston

Our Walk to Freedom journey from Galveston to Houston begins on Galveston Island at the historic Reedy Chapel. Its supposed…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, Emancipation National Historic Trail, Galveston, Underground Railroad, Walking

John Henry (Jack) Yates, Father of Black Houston

May 23, 2024 Ken Johnston

By Frank Thompson As I begin to countdown the Juneteenth Emancipation walk from Galveston to Houston I will be doing…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, Emancipation Day, Emancipation National Historic Trail, Houston, Juneteenth

Catoctin Furnace Freedom Seeker Ads

May 17, 2024 Ken Johnston

Less than 12.5 miles from the Pennsylvania border, men, women and children enslaved at Catoctin Furnance self-emancipated themselves when they…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, Catoctin Furnace, Chronicling Resistance, Frederick County, Freedom

Ancestry: The Connection to Catoctin Furnace

May 11, 2024 Ken Johnston

As a result of DNA studies conducted on interred ancestors at Catoctin Furnace,  some African American families living in the…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, Catoctin Furnace, Frederick County

Walk Across Chester County: Making Community Connections

October 23, 2023 Ken Johnston

On my most recent Walk to Freedom journey, October 9-17, 2023 I walked about 75-miles across Chester County, Pennsylvania to…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, Chester County, Walking

Walk Across Chester County

October 7, 2023 Ken Johnston

Long Distance Hiker to Begin 75-mile Walk Across Chester County Exploring African American History From Hinsonville to Phoenixville Kennett Square,…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, Chester County, Harriet Tubman UGRR Byway, Underground Railroad, Walking

Quote: Arturo Schomburg

January 26, 2023 Ken Johnston

I came across this picture today of Arturo Schomburg in my photo library. It was taken in Auburn, New York…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, New York, People, Puerto Rico

Remembering Nana Harriet’s Rescue

December 26, 2022 Ken Johnston

Last Saturday, December 24, 2022, five brave souls rendezvoused with Linda Harris and I in Preston, Maryland, on the grounds…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, Eastern Shore, Maryland, Harriet Tubman, Resistance, Underground Railroad, Walking

Descendant: Saladin Allah

December 21, 2022 Ken Johnston

Of the many amazing people I met during my 2022 walk to Canada, Saladin Allah, was one of the more…

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Posted in: African Ancestors, Canada, Interview, Josiah Henson, Underground Railroad, Video

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