The National Park Service has selected Bowne House to join the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and awarded the Flushing landmark a grant.
These actions recognize the anti-slavery actions that took place inside the dwelling and support Mapping the Underground Railroad at the Bowne House: Flushing & Beyond, a project to research, identify, and map Underground Railroad networks and escape routes in Queens and Long Island.
“We want to map out the network of sites and other grounds that freedom seekers passing by the Bowne House would’ve used,” stated Board President Rosemary S. Vietor, a direct descendant of the Bownes. “This software will allow us to include archival media like photographs, documents, audio and visual recordings, and text to different locations as well as superimpose historical maps on present day maps.”
The project also allows staffers to continue research in the museum’s archives, interview scholars and historians, and create multimedia programs such as story maps and walking tours.
Located at 37-01 Bowne St., the house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built by English-born John Bowne in 1661. It features a blend of Dutch and English construction techniques on the outside and more than 5,000 time-honored items on the inside, including an early dollhouse, an old china cabinet, and a room where the family hid escaped slaves from bounty hunters.
John Bowne was also a religious freedom advocated. He didn’t sign it, but he hosted meetings that led to the Flushing Remonstrance, a 1657 petition to New Netherlands Director-General Peter Stuyvesant requesting freedom for Quaker worship at a time when Dutch Reformism was the only permitted religion. The Flushing Remonstrance was a model for parts of the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
The Network to Freedom program reviews applications from sites, research facilities, and programs with verified connections to the Underground Railroad. Created via the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998, the project strives to honor, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight.
Image: Bowne House