The Underground Railroad in New Jersey

Long before the network became known as the Underground Railroad, enslaved people risked everything to escape bondage and seek freedom. In New Jersey, one of the most traveled routes ran along the Delaware River from Salem County to Trenton, then across the state toward New York. Along the way, both Black and white allies offered critical support to runaways on their perilous journeys to freedom.

This illustrated lecture will explore the history of enslavement in New Jersey, the role of Quakers who advocated for manumission, and the courageous individuals—famous and unsung—who shaped the Underground Railroad in the Garden State.

Rick Geffken has authored numerous articles on New Jersey history for local newspapers, magazines, historical societies and newsletters and presented historical papers at the New Jersey History & Historic Preservation, the New Jersey Education Association, the New Jersey Library Association, and the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton) conferences.  He has participated in Symposia for groups such as the Rutgers Business School (Newark, NJ); the Navesink Maritime Historical Association, and has appeared on the New Jersey Cable TV show, Family Historian. 

He is part of a project called the New Jersey Slavery Records Index under the auspices of Rutgers University, (New Brunswick). He joined the New Jersey Social Justice Reconciliation Committee to commemorate the only recorded lynching of a Black man in New Jersey. Rick has taught courses on New Jersey slavery for Monmouth University (West Long Branch); and on Revolutionary War topics at Brookdale Community College (Lincroft). He contributes to the New Jersey Slavery Records Index project under the auspices of Rutgers University (New Brunswick).

As an active member of the New Jersey Social Justice Reconciliation Committee, Rick was instrumental in placing a memorial plaque in Eatontown, the 1886 site of the only recorded lynching of a Black man in New Jersey. He was also successful in convincing Middletown Township to erect a commemorative plaque at Cedar View Cemetery, purchased by fourteen free Black men in 1850.

This program is made possible with the support of The Friends of the Livingston Public Library.