Fields of Ideals
A School With A Viewpoint
The home of Horatio Cyrus and Martha Cozad Ford stood near this corner. According to interviews conducted in the 1890s, it was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Of New England background, Horatio brought a set of ideals that made him and his family active participants in the anti-slavery movement. In the 1840s they regularly helped move fugitives to the docks in Cleveland where a free African-American, John Brown, arranged their passage across the lake to freedom in Canada. After Western Reserve College moved to Cleveland in the 1880s, the Ford home and surrounding farmlands would eventually become part of Western Reserve University and two legacies in the struggle against slavery would come together.
Side B
Hudson, Ohio had a reputation for standing against slavery. The town’s founder, David Hudson, was active in the Underground Railroad. His moral attitude was embodied in Western Reserve College, founded in Hudson in 1826. A diary notes that students raised funds to assist a fugitive slave family. In the 1830s, a debate regarding the best way (immediate abolition vs colonization) to abolish slavery divided the college. It survived and in 1854 invited Frederick Douglass to deliver the commencement address. In 1882 the college relocated to Cleveland. That it came to rest on the Ford family
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Erected 2017 by The Friends of Freedom Society, Inc. Case Western Reserve University Allen H. Ford.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans.
Location. 41° 30.348′ N, 81° 36.522′ W. Marker is in Cleveland, Ohio, in Cuyahoga County. It is in University Circle. Marker is at the intersection of Adelbert Road and Euclid Avenue (U.S. 20), on the right when traveling north on Adelbert Road. Marker is on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in front of the Dittrick Museum Of Medical History. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 11000 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland OH 44106, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Michelson-Morley Experiment (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); a different marker also named The Michelson-Morley Experiment (about 700 feet away); Frances Payne Bolton (approx. ¼ mile away); The Cozad-Bates House / Anti-Slavery and Abolition (approx. 0.3 miles away); University Circle (approx. 0.4 miles away); Site of the Home of the Poet Harold Hart Crane (approx. half a mile away); Charles Waddell Chesnutt
Additional keywords. Underground Railroad
Credits. This page was last revised on February 4, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 25, 2019, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. This page has been viewed 249 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on September 25, 2019, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
