During MSOE's Fall Quarter of 2019, each group member chose a topic related to the project and performed thorough research which was then presented to other honors students. The information was gathered from numerous places including, but not limited to, the Milwaukee Public Library, interviews, online websites, online databases, Milwaukee County Historical Society and community events. Each research topic has its own page which can be access by clicking "More Information."
My specific role this quarter was to gain insight into the design aspect of the project. The research question I initially aimed to answer was, “How can art and symbolism be incorporated into the underground railroad project to make it informative, informational, and inviting?’ However, after conducting interviews and research, I realized that I did not have nearly enough information to construct a solid answer. I therefore made the decision to change my topic to fit the information collected, and my question transformed to, “How should the design portion of the underground railroad project be executed so that the final product is unique to the city of Milwaukee?” To conduct my research, I started by reaching out to artists to ask them questions about how they go about creating their pieces. Some of the questions asked included: “When creating a piece of art that you want people to learn from or be inspired by, how have you gone about doing so, or how have you been able to find a specific theme and/or message?”; “Do you have any advice on what kind of emotions we want portrayed through the memorial?” In addition to interviewing artists, I also explored art throughout Milwaukee by keeping an eye out on the streets for murals and sculptures, attended a Native American Pow Wow, and visited an art exhibit.
Kenzie Swinford
By: Anna DeBruine
I did research on the story of a slave named Caroline Quarlls. Caroline Quarlls was a slave in St. Louis, and in 1842 she escaped with around $100. She left her master on the presumption that she was going to visit an ill friend. She then took a ferry up the river into Alton, Illinois, where she met another escaped slave who was able to get her on a wagon to Milwaukee overnight. She made it to a friendly barber's home where she stayed for a couple of days. Officials came looking for the escaped slave, and when the barber went to sell her out, the barber's servant helped her escape. She then was picked up by Dr. Samuel Brown and he took her to his farm, which was located on what is not Fon du lac Avenue in Milwaukee. From there Dr. Brown took her to Pewaukee where they met up with Mr. Lyman Goodnow. Goodnow took her south through Waukeshea, Spring Prarie, and to Lockport, Illinois. From there he took her east through La Porte, Indiana, up through Climax, Michigan, and west through Ann Arbor to Detroit. From there she was put on a ferry to cross the river over into Canada.