Historic Lincoln Home Linked to Underground Railroad

Curt Bright Author

04/24/2024 Added

2 Plays

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A team of architecture students conduct research that puts the John M. Thayer House on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom registry.

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[00:00:01.830]When James and Marcy Young bought
[00:00:03.450]the Thayer house in 1988,
[00:00:05.550]it did not look like it does today.
[00:00:07.590]It was covered with asbestos siding,
[00:00:10.140]there were lots of trees.
[00:00:11.790]It was one of those scary houses
[00:00:14.010]where the kids on Halloween would be scared
[00:00:17.490]to walk up and knock on the door.
[00:00:19.380]The couple put a lot of work
[00:00:20.820]into restoring the century-old house to its original glory,
[00:00:24.210]when it was the home of former Nebraska Governor
[00:00:26.580]and Union Army Commander John Thayer.
[00:00:29.790]Toward the end of his life, Thayer told the press
[00:00:32.340]that during the Civil War,
[00:00:33.750]he disobeyed orders to offer protection
[00:00:36.600]and assistance to anyone fleeing enslavers.
[00:00:40.410]A team of students from UNL's College of Architecture
[00:00:43.410]decided to put Thayer's story to the test.
[00:00:46.590]We would meet up every single week
[00:00:48.150]and either go to the archives or go to the library
[00:00:52.200]and just do intense and rigorous research.
[00:00:54.990]We've never done anything at this caliber before,
[00:00:56.880]so we were all learning together.
[00:00:58.920]After six months of searching
[00:01:00.510]through Civil War era books and news articles,
[00:01:03.630]the students proved that Thayer was as good as his word.
[00:01:07.050]We found a lot of different accounts that corroborated
[00:01:09.150]that he was actually on the correct side of history
[00:01:12.000]and he was helping people during the Civil War
[00:01:14.040]And a period where a lot of people were making up stories
[00:01:17.910]about their involvement with the Underground Railroad,
[00:01:21.780]he was very true and honest in his accounts.
[00:01:24.810]Using their six months of research,
[00:01:26.640]the students nominated the Thayer House
[00:01:28.920]to the Underground Railroad Network to freedom,
[00:01:31.920]a nationwide program to preserve the legacy
[00:01:35.100]of Freedom Seekers.
[00:01:36.990]Which is so cool 'cause now
[00:01:38.760]we get to live here. Honestly.
[00:01:40.249]For homeowner, Marcy Young, this new connection
[00:01:42.840]to history adds to her community.
[00:01:45.660]It is a source of pride for the neighborhood.
[00:01:48.420]They are very proud that it's on the National Register
[00:01:51.930]of Historic Places,
[00:01:53.370]they love that it is one of the few properties
[00:01:57.120]that is a part of the register for the Underground Railroad,
[00:02:00.720]and so it really creates a lot of neighborhood pride.

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Historic Lincoln Home Linked to Underground Railroad

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