A Day of Service on the Underground Railroad

Contributed by Brother Yusuf Burgess

This event is part of Children and Nature Network’s   Serve Outside September Campaign. The Green Tech High BOYS OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP TEAM (BOLT) will participate in the clean-up and landscape improvement of one of Albany, New York’s African American historic landmarks. The Stephen and Harriet Myers House (official name: Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence) is a historic home located in Albany County, New York. It was built in 1847 and is a 2 1/2-story brick townhouse in the Greek Revival style. It is three bays wide, and the basement is separated from the first floor by a sandstone water table. The second story features eyebrow windows set in the brick frieze cornice. Stephen Myers, who lived in this house in the mid-1850s, served as Chairman of the Vigilance Committee of the Underground Railroad of Albany and had actively assisted escaped slaves for nearly 30 years, starting in 1831.
Stephen Myers lived at this address with his wife Harriet and their four children. The Vigilance Committee was active in the Underground Railroad from the early 1840s into the 1850s and met at this location when the Myers’ lived there. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and the state historic register. It is also listed on the New York State Underground Railroad Heritage Trail and a site on the National Park Service’s National Network to Freedom.

The Boys Outdoor Leadership Team will assist Paul Stewart, co-founder of the Underground Railroad History Project in a Day of Service on the grounds of this historic property. Trash removal and lawn maintenance will take place on Sunday 9/11 from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM. More than 25 boys from Green Tech will participate in the clean-up, under the direction and supervision of Brother Yusuf Burgess.
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause.
Event Location