The Underground Railroad in New Jersey!

Join us Thursday, February 13 7PM at Woodbridge Main Library to honor African American History. Dr. Linda J. Caldwell Epps will highlight the struggles and triumphs experienced by those traveling the Underground Railroad to freedom and the role New Jersey played.

From the beginning of African enslavement in America, attempts to escape from bondage were a frequent form of resistance though dangerous and strongly suppressed. What became known as the Underground Railroad was a network of meeting points, secret routes, and safe houses used by enslaved people of African descent to escape into northern states and Canada. The Underground Railroad was an interracial movement that caught the attention of the nation on the fundamental injustice of slavery. Boldly challenging America’s moral, legal, and economic foundation, galvanizing antislavery sentiment, and giving impetus to redeem American liberty – The Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Dr. Linda J. Caldwell Epps is President and CEO of 1804 Consultants and a founding member of the Sankofa Collaborative. She brings to clients more than 45 years of experience working with educational and cultural institutions, including The New Jersey Historical Society, a statewide museum, library, and educational facility, where she served as President and CEO, and New Jersey Network Television and Radio where she served as Vice President for Institutional Relations. She held various positions at Bloomfield College where she worked for 27 years. In her role as Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, she helped create an award winning campus-wide student assessment project to help assure student and faculty success. As Vice President for College Relations, she helped lead the institution to successful completion of its first capital campaign which raised $8.4 million. She served as a Ford Foundation-funded consultant to several institutions of higher learning—including Keene College in New Hampshire, Union College in Ohio and the College of St. Elizabeth in New Jersey—on issues of diversity and equity in higher education.

The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Caldwell Epps was inducted into the Douglass Society, the highest honor accorded to Douglass College graduates. In 2019 she was inducted into the Rutgers African American Hall of Fame. She also received the highest award accorded to Seton Hall University students — the Most Distinguished Alumnae Award. She is the 2019 recipient of the Beulah Oliphant award presented annually to women in recognition of their outstanding contributions to New Jersey history in historic preservation, education, or scholarship. Her commitment to her community has been recognized by numerous philanthropic and civic organizations.

This event is free and open to all!

The Woodbridge Main Library is located at 1 George Frederick Plaza in Woodbridge, NJ. If you have any questions or need any further information please contact us at 732-634-4450 or visit our website -www.woodbrigelibrary.org.