Underground Railroad Education Center in Albany gets $30K

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Underground Railroad Education Center in Albany received $30,000 in funding on Monday to support its Museum Studies program. The program is designed to encourage high school students to explore careers in the museum field.

“The work we do with Underground Railroad Education Center is not just about remembering the past but relating that past to us today and looking forward to building a just and equitable future,” Mary Liz Stewart with the Underground Education Center said. “Encouraging other folks as they engage with this history to be agents of change for an equitable and just society.”

Interested students are introduced to a wide range or job opportunities available in museums and learn about the vital role the institutions play in local communities. Officials said this is particularly important as many federally funded programs like the Underground Education Center are currently facing spending cuts.

“The Underground Railroad Education Center is not only preserving history, it’s shaping our collective future,” Albany City School District Board Vice Pres. Tabetha Wilson said. “Having a piece of the Underground Railroad run through Albany is a point of pride for me and many others, and any lover of history, of truth telling. Harriet Tubman is an American hero like Henry Johnson is an American hero and a reminder that history is always with us, and history is right here in Albany.”

The center is currently planning a new $8 million interpretive center in Albany’s Arbor Hill neighborhood.