Q I am writing a paper on Quindaro and the Underground Railroad for school. Do you have information that can help me?
A Browsing our Quindaro Web page will give you an introduction to Quindaro and its role on the Underground Railroad during the Kansas Territorial and Civil War years.

Q What resources are available about Quindaro?
A Here is a list of selected resources about Quindaro, Kansas that are available at our library. You may not be able to find these resources at most libraries.

Q Where is the Quindaro-Western University Site located?
A The site is located at 27th Street and Sewell Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. This map shows the location of the site.

Q What is located at the Quindaro site?
A We can give you a brief Internet tour of the Quindaro ruins and Western University.

Q Can the Quindaro site be visited?
A For information on areas that are available for public viewing see visitor information.

Q Where can I see the artifacts that the archaeologist found?
A The Wyandotte County Museum in Bonner Springs, Kansas houses some of the Quindaro artifacts. An exhibit was held at the museum to display the artifacts in 1991.

Q May I print out pages of Quindaro on the Underground Railroad to use in a report or display at school?
A Yes, you may use these pages for educational purposes. We only ask that you please document where you obtained the information. This is an example of how to document our site.

Q Do you have the actual photographs that I saw on your web page?
A In most cases we do not. Most of the photographs and other images are owned by other people who gave us permission to use them.

2.What were the abolitionist trying to accomplish who started the town of Quindaro?

3.If you were one of the escaped slaves hiding in a well or someone's barn in Quindaro, what would you be thinking about while you were hiding?

4.If you were one of the slave catchers waiting in Quindaro Park, what would you be thinking as you waited to capture a fugitive slave?

5.Why is Western University a part of the history of Quindaro, Kansas?

Two of the reasons why the area which would become Quindaro, Kansas was selected for a town is that it was a good location for steamboats to dock and the abolitionists living in the area were already assisting slaves to escape on the underground railroad.

Quindaro, Kansas, located on the Missouri River, began as a boom town. It had a short life as a busy city for two years. However, while the original town site began to deteriorate, some of the original inhabitants of the area remained as farmers. Also, a new group of people, mostly of African descent, claimed the farms and buildings which had been abandoned. The area's population grew again, but not on the site on which the original town was built.

Quindaro is now a part of Kansas City, Kansas. But there are still people today who proudly say, "I was born in Quindaro, Kansas" or, "I live in Quindaro, Kansas." So the name Quindaro, "in union there is strength," and the abolitionist town on the underground railroad are still remembered today.

PURPOSE The purpose of this Web page is to introduce you to Quindaro, Kansas. This will be accomplished by tracing events from Quindaro's beginning as an abolitionist town in Kansas Territory in 1857, to the efforts to preserve the town's memory as a historical district, and finally to the current efforts to get Quindaro recognized by the National Park Service as one of its Underground Railroad sites.

HOW TO USE THIS PAGE This web page is set up for browsing. For those who like quizzes, after browsing take our brief Quindaro Quiz.

TOUR Our virtual tour of the Quindaro Ruins.

DEFINITIONS

Abolitionist: a person who wants to stop slavery and works to end it. Boom Town: a town that grows fast because of sudden economic or population growth. Bogus Laws: laws that are not made by the rules making them counterfiet, fake, fraudlent, and illegal. Contraband: a slave who has escaped and is hidding or kept safe from slave catchers. Ferryboat: a boat used to carry people, animals, vechiles, and goods back and forth across a river or narrow stretch of water. Freedmen: African Americans who had been slaves. Fugitive Slave: a person who was running away from slavery. Guerrilla Warfare: warfare carried out by independent bands of people who harass their enemy by sudden ambushes, raids and plundering. Quindaro: a Wyandot Indian word meaning, "a bundle of sticks," interpreted as "in union there is strength." Quindaro, Kansas was named after Nancy Brown Guthrie, whose Indian name was Quindaro. Statehood: the event when a territory becomes a state. A territory becomes a U.S. state, after its residents ratify (approve) a state constitution, the U.S. Congress approves the state consitution, then passes a statehood bill, which the president signs. Steamboat: a large boat that can carry many people, that uses steam to move the propellers and paddles which make it move along rivers. Territory: an area of land that is not a state, but, it has an appointed or elected governor and legislature. Underground Railroad: a secret network of escape routes to help escaped slaves reach freedom. Underground Railroad Station: a hiding or stopping place, for escaped slaves along the underground railroad route. The stations could be houses, churches, farms, barns, stables, wells, storerooms, secret passages, or other hiding places.

INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS Many students come to our library to obtain information about Quindaro and its role in the Underground Railroad for school papers. We hope this page will help give you some ideas on what life was like in Old Quindaro. We do not have an index to our page. Our page is constructed for browsing. After you browse our page and get some ideas for your paper you may want to search the World Wide Web for further information.

1. Go the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library search engine page. You will find a list of search engines such as Yahoo, Lycos, Alta Vista, Infoseek, HotBot, Excite and others.
2. Type in the word Quindaro and search for pages that will give you additional information for your report.
3. Type in the words "underground railroad" to obtain information on that subject.
4. Type in the words "Kansas History" for information about Kansas.

Documenting your sources: After your paper is written your teacher may ask you to list all the sources you used to get information. Follow your teacher's instructions for documenting your sources. If you used information from the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library's Kansas Collection Page on Quindaro and do not have instructions from your teacher on how to list Web sites in your references, use the following as an example for our site:

Slaughter, G. Quindaro on the Underground Railroad.
[web page] 1998 Aug; http://www.kckpl.lib.us/lochist/quindaro/quindaro.htm
[Accessed 23 August 1998].