America's River Roots Festival isn't until October, but there's already an app connected to it. The Freedom Journey app was developed to highlight the Underground Railroad, as the area celebrates its historical connections to the Ohio River.
Holly Brians Regusa with the festival's advisory board says the app points out historic locations and event sites.
“There’ll be mapping and GPS locations; custom tours that are already premade for you, so you could just plug and play and go,” she says. “And then you can build your own tour as well. You can bookmark sites that are really of interest to you.”
She says one example is the story of Eliza Harris, who crossed the Ohio to freedom with her child during the winter.
“That particular individual has a marker along the river that could easily be overlooked, and her story could be lost to history,” Brians Regusa says. “But now, through the Freedom Journey app, you can carry history in your pocket.”
She says the app is for “lifelong learners.”
America's River Roots Ambassador Kyla Woods says the Freedom Journey app tells the story of people escaping enslavement and those who helped them.
“Not just people who were Black, or in the minority population, but we had our counterparts — white people who were advocating for slavery to be abolished, and who were holding meetings and who were getting hundreds of people together with the shared understanding and a shared passion to really serve and advocate in that way,” she says.
Brians Regusa says you can download it for free for Android and Apple.
“Once you do, you’ll have the opportunity to review all of the narratives that are within each site and key individuals,” she says.
Woods says the platform was developed along with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
“We were very intentional about wanting to bring this app to the public prior to the festival so that … the community can come together, learn, and bring that knowledge with them," she says.
The Freedom Center will maintain the app after the festival.
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