AUBURN - Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass are just a few names people associate with the anti-slavery movement but there were many more who helped with the network known as the freedom trail.

Saturday's speech by Harry Bradshaw Matthews uncovered some of the names and the impact those people had on the journey to ending slavery.

“The Underground Railroad was only one component of the freedom journey. My vision is broader,” Matthews said during his presentation.

Some of the less-known names he mentioned included Alexander Crummell, a pastor who received a college education from the Oneida Institute and was a vocal abolitionist, and William Still, a conductor on the Underground Railroad and civil rights activist.

Matthews, the associate dean and director of U.S. Pluralism Programs at Hartwick College in Oneonta, came to Auburn with 11 students who are part of the Harriet Tubman Mentoring project. More than 30 people attended the event, which took place at the Harriet Tubman Home visitor's center.

He also spent time discussing the development of the African American infrastructure and how it contributed to ending slavery.

Latonya Saunders came to tour the Harriet Tubman Home with her fiance and children. Saunders, of Rochester, found out Matthews would be speaking after they planned the trip and decided to attend that as well.

After the presentation, she said she did not know about some of the people Matthews mentioned and their involvement in the journey to freedom.

“It's very important not only for African Americans but for all cultures to understand the journey and the heritage ... and the people that were involved,” Saunders said.

The Rev. Paul Carter, caretaker of the Harriet Tubman Home, believes Matthews speech was significant because it presented a much broader picture than what is typically taught in schools.

“It's important for Mr. Matthews to come here to explain to those who were here a little more about the history of New York as it relates to African Americans because a lot of it has been either covered or eliminated from the standard material that we find in our high schools,” he said.

Audrey Mochel, of Auburn, attended the event with her husband to learn more about the anti-slavery movement. Mochel believes more work needs to be done to establish a more precise account of what happened during that time.

“I don't think enough has been written about the African American contribution to the Underground Railroad and to anti-slavery,” she said. “An awful lot that's being written is coming out of diaries and letters. We really don't have an accurate history yet, it's still under way.”

Students who came with Matthews got a chance to tour the Home for the Aged located on the premises.

Sophomore Brittanie Kemp, who took a class taught by Matthews in the past, came on the trip because she is part of the Harriet Tubman Mentoring project. Kemp, who is originally from Bahamas, said it's important to make people aware and to present a part of history that many may not know about.

“A lot of the information that was presented today, a lot of people don't know because they don't teach it in high school and they definitely don't teach it in college,” she said. “Being that it's Black History month, I think it's very important to just educate people ... and just clear up a lot of the misconceptions that people have about black people.”

Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net