Illinois State Capitol. (WTTW News)

The Illinois Underground Railroad Task Force met for the first time this week to begin devising a strategy for sharing, growing and celebrating the history of the Underground Railroad in Illinois.

The Old State Capitol in Springfield. (Google Streetview)

Between 1841 and 1872, the building served as the seat of Illinois Supreme Court, during which time justices heard several cases linked to Illinois' Underground Railroad.

The Lost Beach Trail at Sand Ridge Nature Center leads to a view of an ancient shoreline. (Courtesy of Forest Preserve District of Cook County)

An ancient sand ridge in the Calumet region became a well-worn route used by enslaved people seeking freedom.

We visit a local house on the route of the Underground Railroad that was built by a man who was also an accomplished painter of early Illinoisans.

Dawoud Bey. “Untitled #1 (Picket Fence and Farmhouse),” from the series “Night Coming Tenderly, Black,” 2017. Rennie Collection, Vancouver. © Dawoud Bey.

In a 1967 speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said the Underground Railroad “symbolized hope when freedom was almost an impossible dream.” Chicago photographer Dawoud Bey talks about his new exhibition, “Night Coming Tenderly, Black.” 

Archaeologists are nearing the end of a monthlong dig in the city’s Old Irving Park neighborhood. What they’re looking for – and what they’ve turned up.

The Gray-Cloud house in 2017. (Courtesy of David Cloud)

A 162-year-old Chicago home rumored to have once been a stop on the Underground Railroad is now the site of an excavation. What archaeologists are hoping to unearth.

The Gray-Cloud house in 2017. (Courtesy of David Cloud)

A farmhouse built in 1856 may have ties to the Underground Railroad. This summer, the homeowners and a Lake Forest archaeologist will begin work to uncover the mystery.

Was a Chicago housing project once a stop on the Underground Railroad? Geoffrey Baer discovers a hidden piece of African American history in this week's edition of Ask Geoffrey.