It is fitting that the same house that welcomed Concord minutemen and esteemed literary figures Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott also welcomed weary slaves struggling for freedom along the Underground Railroad. The Wayside in Concord was a safe house for the fugitive travelers, and is located on the same road that saw the British advance and retreat on April 19, 1775.
In the early 19th century, a group of abolitionists, both whites and freed slaves, established the Underground Railroad's extensive system of stations along a route from the South to the Northern "free states" and Canada. By the 1850s and 1860s, more than 100,000 escaped slaves traveled along its path.
The following are excerpts of President Kennedy's December 17, 1962 address to the nation:
This morning I had a meeting in the White House which included some of our representatives in the distant lands of Asia. They were returning to their posts for the Christmas holiday. Talking with them afterwards, I was struck by the fact that in that far-off continent Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, as well as Christians, pause from their labors on the twenty-fifth of December to celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace.
