Martha’s Vineyard’s new “Sailing to Freedom” exhibition highlights the historical role the island played.

Randall Burton carefully hid himself on the Franklin, a northern bound ship captained by Francis Cook in the year 1854. The 31-year-old had already hidden in the woods for days after escaping enslavement. The ship rocked back and forth between the unforgiving Atlantic waves as it distanced itself from the Florida shore, Burton hoped that with each passing second, he was getting closer to his own emancipation—he was getting closer to the shores of Martha’s Vineyard.

Before the ship could dock in Holmes Hole, what is now known as Vineyard Haven, Captain Cook had discovered Burton’s presence and attempted to turn him in to authorities in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. With the help of the ship’s cook, who was also African American, he was able to narrowly escape to shore and subsequently hid in the swamps in Aquinnah for several days. Eventually, two Wampanoag women discovered him and waded through the water with food and women’s clothing for him to use as a disguise to once again escape. With their help, he was able to discreetly board a boat in Menemsha Bight and sail to the safety of New Bedford, a well-established safe haven for those who escaped enslavement. 

His story of self-emancipation, as told by the African American Heritage trail of Martha’s Vineyard, is merely one of countless untold stories of the Underground Railroad that took place on the sea—an exhibition at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum is striving to recover and re-center the maritime dimension of the Underground Railroad. ...