Famed black writer, physician, and military officer Martin Delany lived part of his youth in Chambersburg. Noted abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass made frequent visits to the area on the speaking circuit and it is believed he also assisted formerly enslaved Africans in their flight to freedom. During the summer of 1859 John Brown and many of his followers came to Chambersburg to plan the Harpers Ferry Raid.

Martin Delany

Martin Delany (May 6, 1812 - January 24, 1885), one of the most influential Black figures in American history, was raised among freedom-seekers in Chambersburg, Franklin County and Carlisle, Cumberland County before moving to Pittsburgh.

In 1847, Delany joined Fredrick Douglass as co-editor of the North Star which generated a legacy of Black Press in the United States. As a reporter, he traveled throughout Pennsylvania.

Delany was the first African-American field officer in the United States Army and the first proponent of Black Nationalism. Considered "the chief superintendent" of Pennsylvania's Underground Railroad, he served as "control tower" for a brilliant network of conductors and agents, connecting Pittsburgh (John B. Vashon), Meadville (Richard Henderson), Wilkes-Barre (Jonathan Jasper Wright), Williamsport (John Warner), Harrisburg (Thomas Chester), York (William Goodridge), Columbia (William Whipper and Steven Smith), and Philadelphia (Robert Purvis and William Still).

These leaders created a legendary human system of action that links 19th-century advocacy to 20th-century social change and the Civil War to Civil Rights!

Related Destinations

• The Chambersburg Heritage Center
  100 Lincoln Way East, Suite A
  Chambersburg, PA 17201
  (717) 264-7101
  
  The Chambersburg Heritage Center serves as an interpretive center for Franklin County, focusing on frontier, architecture, Underground Railroad, Civil War, and transportation history.
  
  The Chambersburg Heritage Tour focuses on the unique role our area played in the war against slavery. Featured destinations in this tour include sites associated with John Brown's Harpers Ferry Raid, such as the house where he stayed and the meeting place between Brown and Frederick Douglass, as well as the Wertz Farm, an Underground Railroad site. Approximate driving time: 3 hours.