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HUD’s Iowa field office team tours Des Moines area Jordan House as part of Black History Month education
[(L-R) Iowa State Director Julie Sleeper is joined by Multifamily Southwest Account Executive Pam Dodge for a tour of the Jordan House in Des Moines, Iowa; part of the Underground Railroad used in the 19th century on February 16, 2024. (Photo credit: HUD Great Plains)]
(L-R) Iowa State Director Julie Sleeper is joined by Multifamily Southwest Account Executive Pam Dodge for a tour of the Jordan House in Des Moines, Iowa; part of the Underground Railroad used in the 19th century on February 16, 2024.
(Photo credit: HUD Great Plains)
[A map of the Underground Railroad used during the 19th century trails that helped Black people expereicning slavery, to find freedom in the North and Western United States. (Photo credit: HUD Great Plains)]
A map of the Underground Railroad used during the 19th century trails that helped Black people expereicning slavery, to find freedom in the North and Western United States.
(Photo credit: HUD Great Plains)

Iowa State Director, Julie Sleeper, and Multi-family Account Executive, Pam Dodge, toured the Jordan House Museum on February 16, 2024, part of Black History Month events to foster education and awareness in the regional offices.

The Jordan House was built in the mid-1800’s by James C. Jordan, a cattle farmer from Virginia who turned against slavery as a young man after helping chase down slaves fleeing from a neighboring plantation. During the antebellum period of the United States, the Jordan House was a designated stopover on the Underground Railroad.

During the tour, HUD staff also learned about Abolitionist, John Brown, and his efforts to bring a group of freedom seekers across Iowa to free states of the North and further on into Canada. On February 17, 1859, 12 escaped slaves (men, women, and children) and Brown’s men arrived at the Jordan House for an overnight stay. The freedom seekers rested in the timber overnight before moving to the next stop in Iowa. It was noted during the tour that the freedom seekers never entered the homes of the hosts, to avoid any connections of the owners to the underground railroad.

For more information on the underground railroad in Iowa and James Jordan, you may visit the following websites:

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