Two centuries ago, the paddle wheel steamboat shaped the history of
Cincinnati and the Midwest. Four times since 1988, the city has
celebrated with an event featuring steamboats from various U.S.
river towns. But the 2003 edition will be different in many ways,
starting with a new name: The
TALL STACKS MUSIC, ARTS &
HERITAGE FESTIVAL. From October 15-19, "visitors will come away
with more knowledge of how the
Ohio River has impacted our culture
and our shared history," says Mike Smith, the event's executive
director. For the first time, there will be themed cruises, such as
an old-fashioned Graeter's ice-cream social. You'll also be able to
listen to an expanded roster of music, including jazz, blues,
bluegrass, gospel, and folk. A new exhibit, "Along
Jordan's Path,"
allows visitors to learn about the role of slaves who built, worked
on, and escaped via the steamboats.
Ohio was an abolitionist state, and
Cincinnati, home to Harriet
Beecher Stowe, was a point of entry to freedom for enslaved
fugitives. In the summer of 2004, the
NATIONAL UNDERGROUND
RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER, the largest such museum, will open to
commemorate the history of this 19th-century escape route utilized
by more than 100,000 slaves. Its three pavilions will sit on the
north bank of the Ohio as a mark of the river's prominent role in
freedom. (Historians believe 40 percent of the country's slaves
escaped by crossing the Ohio River.) Among the center's highlights
will be hundreds of artifacts, a story theater where you can hear
tales of abolitionists, and accounts of contemporary struggles for
freedom. Says Edwin Rigaud, the center's president: "The Freedom
Center is being built to inspire everyone in the nation to become
modern-day freedom conductors."
ALL THE CINCINNATI FACTS
The Cincinnati Wing of the Cincinnati Art Museum