Underground Railroad presentation scheduled for Feb. 20 at Cambria County Library

Feb. 11—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — The fact that the Underground Railroad wound its way through Cambria County and surrounding areas is a significant, but often overlooked, part of local history.

With hopes of providing some insight into those times, Denise Jennings-Doyle, president of the Blairsville Area Underground Railroad organization, will deliver a presentation beginning at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Cambria County Library, 248 Main Street, downtown Johnstown.

She will discuss the network that was in place to assist runaway slaves on their journeys out of the South and into free states and Canada.

The free event is sponsored by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Mary R. Campbell Camp No. 16 Auxiliary.

"We don't realize how much the Underground Railroad was effective (in this area). ... We don't realize that this area also helped transport freedom-seekers," said Judy Bako, the auxiliary's patriotic instructor. "I just think it's really an interesting topic."

The presentation is one of the numerous events taking place in the Johnstown region as part of Black History Month.

Cambria County Library System Executive Director Ashley Flynn said she expects an "engaging and informative program."

"We were really striving to become a very inclusive part of our community, so we always want to make sure that we do what we can to represent all facets of our community here in that everybody can find something for them here at the library, so Black History Month is, of course, a very important part of those efforts," Flynn said.

The local Union veterans auxiliary has been holding presentations about Civil War-era subjects since 2019.

"I just feel any speaker we have contributes," Bako said. "Things that you never knew about the Civil War, just all kinds of different topics. It's very interesting to me. We just want to open it up to the public and keep that Civil War history alive."