One needs to cite only one statistic as evidence of just how far short the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center has come from reaching its original lofty aspirations: When it opened in 1994, its supporters were boldly predicting the center would attract more than a million visitors a year, but in its first five years, the center drew fewer than 900,000 total visitors.
Because of poor attendance, the center — located on a portion of the land where Riverfront Stadium once stood in downtown Cincinnati — has been forced to cut its budget and staff by half, to $5.7 million and 50 full-time employees. While the center no longer is on the brink of closing, it is clear that its long-term survival will require that it become something more than what was originally intended.
From its beginning, the museum has gotten excellent reviews from educators, students and others — and for good reason. As among the few who have visited the center, we can attest that it is a great place to spend a few hours. It does a superb job of telling the story of the underground railroad that helped runaway slaves escape to freedom in the years before the Civil War. An interactive display allows visitors to make their own decisions as they follow a group of runaway slaves along their route to freedom, and then tells visitors whether their decisions were the right ones or wrong ones — and why. It is a fun and exciting teaching tool — even for those of us who have been out of school for decades.
But other visitors have expressed disappointment in the center.
Christopher Smitherman, president of the 3,000-member Cincinnati NAACP chapter, said the center needs to do a better job of connecting with the region’s black community. Only a small percentage of area black residents have even visited the museum.
Smitherman said he would like to see the center address economic inequality and higher rates of infant mortality and other health issues among local blacks. The Freedom Center “needs to use its position to call attention to those issues,” he said. “Economic slavery is going on right here.”
Donald Murphy, Freedom Center CEO and president, said, “We’re focusing on the fundamental message of the triumph of the human spirit. If you could put it into one word, we’re talking about triumph. We want people to walk away from this museum inspired.”
“We need more voices, younger voices involved in our forums, we need broader appeal,” Murphy said. “What I’d like to see most in the next five years is the struggle for freedom told in a comprehensive manner, not in bits and pieces.”
The center already has begun to expand its focus. Exhibits now address genocide in Darfur and child slavery in Haiti, and the center has hosted traveling displays on Abraham Lincoln, African Origins of American Art, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
It got a boost this summer when the Cincinnati Reds hosted Major League Baseball’s Civil Rights Game, which will return in 2010. The center and the Reds had displays on baseball’s Negro Leagues and the center hosted such sports greats as Hank Aaron and local legend Oscar Robertson.
“We’ve had some fits and starts, but we’ve done some good things,” Murphy said.
The center has always been a great place to visit. By expanding its role without abandoning its original focus on the underground railroad, it can become even better. The center does enough good things — and does them well — that its failure would be a tremendous loss to the community and to the region.
If you find yourself in Cincinnati with a few hours to spare, check out the Freedom Center. You won’t be disappointed.
