The tour will leave at 11am immediately following the BFR Heritage Breakfast from Fountain Square with transportation provided by METRO. This tour is FREE, but individual registration for each attendee is required by completing the form. Contact bfrheritagebreakfast@gmail.com for additional questions/inquiries
Friday, 8/18/23 | 11:00am .
Sponsored By METRO
The African American Historical Bus Tour (AAHBT) provides multicultural tour operations that are dedicated to educating individuals about the historic experiences of African Americans in the Greater Cincinnati region. The vision for the launch of AAHBT Is derived from a belief that there is a real need for education about the history and beginnings of Africans in America and recognition that many aspects of that history has never been shared in ways that respect the struggle, survival and dignity of those persons who were dehumanized by enslavement.
Due to Cincinnati’s location on the banks of the Ohio River, the city’s economy was tied to the society of enslavement in the south. However, a special cadre of individuals became very active in the African American quest for freedom as they escaped enslavement and made the incredible journey to the North and to eventual freedom. Thanks to spearheading by this group of Cincinnatian trailblazers, the “Queen City” became a primary destination on the Underground Railroad, the first multiethnic, multiracial, multiclass human rights movement in the history of the United States.
“Cincinnati’s Underground Railroad” by Richard Cooper and Dr. Eric R. Jackson
Experiential, educational tourism is a great tool to promote improving the knowledge of the general community and to encourage learning while heightening the understanding of unreported and underreported aspects of the history of a people and the aspects of the historic struggle for freedom that took place within the Greater Cincinnati region.
The bus tour will include the following planned stops:
- Departure & Return Location:
- Fountain Square (In Front of the Westin Hotel):
- Multiple Historic Sites
- Downtown Cincinnati (Black Brigade Monument) (Smale Park)
- Stop by National Underground Railroad Freedom Center for short presentation
- West End
- Over-the-Rhine
- Walnut Hills
Directions .
- Fountain Square – 5th Street
- Head north on Vine St toward Fountain Square Plaza
- Use the left lane to turn left onto W 6th Street
- Use the left 2 lanes to turn left onto Race Street
- Use the right 2 lanes to turn right onto W 3rd Street
- Keep right to stay on W 3rd St
- Turn right onto Second Street West
- Turn right onto Elm Street
- Turn left onto W Mehring Way/Ohio River Scenic Byway
- Smale Park – Black Brigade Monument
- Head east on W Mehring Way/Ohio River Scenic Byway toward Joe Nuxhall Way
- Turn left onto Joe Nuxhall Way/Joe Nuxhall Way
- Continue to follow Joe Nuxhall Way
- Use the left 2 lanes to turn left onto E 3rd Street
- Use the right 2 lanes to continue on W 3rd Street
- Use the right 2 lanes to turn right at the 1st cross street onto Elm Street
- Turn left onto W 9th Street
- Turn left onto Plum Street
- Destination will be on the right – Cincinnati City Hall
- Head south on Plum St toward W 8th Street
- Turn right at the 1st cross street onto W 8th St
- Turn right onto Central Ave
- Turn left onto Ezzard Charles Drive
- Use the right lane to stay on Ezzard Charles Drive
- Continue straight to stay on Ezzard Charles Drive
- Destination will be straight ahead – Cincinnati Union Terminal
- Head south on Ezzard Charles Drive
- Turn right onto Western Ave
- Merge onto I-75 S via the ramp on the left to Lexington
- Merge onto I-75 S
- Take exit 1B on the left to merge onto I-71 N/US-50 E toward US-52 E
- Keep right to continue on I-71 N
- Continue onto I-71 N
- Take exit 3 toward Martin Luther King Dr
- Turn left onto Dr Martin Luther King Dr/Martin Luther King Dr E
- Turn right onto Gilbert Ave
- Destination – Harriet Beecher Stowe House
- Head south on Gilbert Ave toward Foraker Ave
- Turn left onto Chapel Street
- Destination – Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Club
- Head west on Chapel St toward Monfort St
- Turn left onto Gilbert Ave
- Turn right onto William Howard Taft Rd
- Pass by Wendy’s (on the left)
- Turn left onto Vine St
- Turn right onto Findlay St
- Turn left onto Race St
- Destination – Findlay Market
- Head south on Race St toward W Elder Street
- Turn left onto W Liberty Street
- Destination – Over-The-Rhine
- Head south on Vine St toward E Liberty Street
- Continue on E 12th St to E Central Parkway
- Turn left onto E Central Parkway
- Turn right onto Sycamore Street
- Continue on E 5th Street to Procter and Gamble Plaza
- Head south on Walnut St toward E 6th St
- Continue onto Marian Spencer Way
- Turn right onto E Freedom Way
- Destination – National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
- Head west on E Freedom Way toward Rosa Parks St/E Ted Berry Wy
- Turn right onto Rosa Parks St
- Continue onto Vine St
- Destination will be on the right – Fountain Square