Auburn residents Friday celebrated the unveiling of a plaque in honor of little known abolitionist and friend of Harriet Tubman, Morgan “Luke” Freeman. Here's how it all happened:
Not many people know the name, Morgan “Luke” Freeman but fourth graders; Elliot, Xavia, and Kara do.
"Morgan 'Luke' Freeman was a friend of Harriet Tubman, and he ran a barber shop that people think was a stop on the Underground Railroad," the children recited from a letter. "If you could, would you please put a plaque on your building letting people know this is the site of Morgan 'Luke' Freeman's barber shop. We think that would be really cool. Thank you for reading this letter. Sincerely Elliot, Xavia, and Kara.”
That was the letter they wrote to First Niagara Bank which now stands where Morgan “Luke” Freeman once ran his barbershop. It doubled as a safe house for escaped slaves. Harriet Tubman Boosters President Laurel Ullyette says Tubman and Freeman worked together along the Underground Railroad.
“She was an acquaintance of Morgan 'Luke' Freeman, and he had his safe house here, and he brought slaves in," Ulyette says. "She would bring them through here, and would be hidden in Morgan Freeman’s basement.”
Two years after the fourth graders wrote their letter, Morgan “Luke” Freeman is now memorialized with a plaque on the bank itself. Auburn First Niagara Bank Vice President Demetrius Murphy says he never would have known that his bank was a stop along the Underground Railroad were it not for the kids.
“I never knew that Morgan Freeman's barber shop was here," Murphy said. "And I consider myself a little bit of a history buff. But as far as Auburn goes, there's a lot of history here that we don't know, and it gets uncovered every single day because of the kids and the teachers.”
The students even wrote a song with folk duo Magpie about Freeman that definitely gets stuck in your head, and makes Morgan “Luke” Freeman hard to forget.
