Bill > SR101

This resolution formally recognizes February 21, 2026, as Historic St. Paul A.M.E. Church National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Day in Kentucky. The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom is a program run by the National Park Service that identifies and commemorates places and programs that were significant to the Underground Railroad, a historical network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape to free states and Canada. Historic St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Lexington, Kentucky, has been officially designated as a site on this network due to its historical role as an active Underground Railroad station. The church, built in 1826, provided refuge for freedom seekers, even employing strategies like purchasing an adjacent stray pen to mask human scents from tracking dogs. Its significance is further highlighted by its connection to abolitionist Lewis Garrard Clarke, whose life and work were deeply intertwined with the church and who even inspired a character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel *Uncle Tom's Cabin*. The resolution acknowledges the church's enduring legacy as a tangible link to the past, preserving the history of resistance and the pursuit of freedom.

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/sr101.html