The our mission is to reveal stories about freedom's heroes, from the era of the Underground Railroad to contemporary times, challenging and inspiring everyone to take courageous steps for freedom today. Our physical location in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, is just a few steps from the banks of the Ohio River, the great natural barrier that separated slave from free states. Our museum tells the dramatic story of the enslaved crossing over that river on the journey to freedom, assisted by men and women of all backgrounds who hated slavery and had created a secret network of escape routes that came to be called "the Underground Railroad."