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 The Jane and Littleton Mitchell Center for African American Heritage is a series of exhibition spaces within the museum. A thematic gallery tour of “Journey to Freedom” begins with the story of Antoni Swart, Black Anthony, Delaware’s first recorded black inhabitant. He was captured in 1638, landed at Fort Christina in 1639 and was assistant to Governor Printz less than 10 years later. Additional focal points include a Civil War lottery wheel, an original Mason-Dixon boundary stone and a must-see display on the regional abolitionist movement. Reverend Peter Spencer’s contribution as the father of the Independent Black Church Movement and founder of the nation’s first independent Black Christian Church is also interpreted.  Wilmington’s Old Town Hall and Willingtown Square complete the complex. The Federal-style 1798 Old Town Hall has functioned as an important public space and jail. Abolitionists held meetings and hosted speakers in the hall and the basement cells were once used to hold captured fugitive slaves until they could be reclaimed. Frederick Douglass was denied permission to speak there.  Willington Square is located directly across the street and consists of four historic houses, the Cook-Simms House, the Jacobs House and the Jacob and Obidiah Dingee Houses, dating from 1748. The Square, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), was named after Thomas Willing who planned the city in 1731. Tours are not offered.  Thomas Garrett, a Philadelphia born Quaker, is renowned as an ardent abolitionist, ally of Harriet Tubman and tireless UGRR stationmaster. Harriet first arrived at Garrett’s in October of 1849. In 1822 he relocated to Wilmington and began operating an UGRR network that would function for 38 years. His sentiments were molded by the kidnapping of a free black servant when he was a boy. His family rescued the woman and he and his brothers became abolitionists. In 1848 he was brought to trial for harboring and transporting slaves, found guilty and fined $5,400. Although financially ruined he continued and even magnified his activities. He is credited with aiding 2,700 freedom seekers and was Stowe’s inspiration for Simeon Halliday in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Garrett’s home was at 227 Shipley Street. He is buried on Quaker Hill in the Friends Meeting House burial ground. The existing meeting house is the third structure and was built in 1816. “The Rocks” of Brandywine Creek was a documented fugitive landing site because it offered more privacy than the port. Harry Craige, an African American brickmaker, was a documented operative who met and transported fugitives from the boat. 
The 2.4-acre Tubman-Garret Riverfront Park became the
home of a commemorative sculpture, “Unwavering Courage
in the Pursuit of Freedom,” in 2013. The monument honors
Garret and Tubman and is near the site of the Market
Street Crossing, the primary southern entry into the
city and. one Tubman was known to use. Interpretive
plaques located throughout the park line the walkways.
www.visitwilmingtonde.com
Renee Gordon has written a weekly travel column for the Philadelphia Sun Newspaper for the past fifteen years and has published articles on local, national and international travel in numerous publications. Her columns focus on cultural, historic and heritage tourism and her areas of specialization are sites and attractions related to African American and African Diaspora history. Renee has been a guest radio commentator on various aspects of tourism and appeared in a documentary, "The Red Summer of 1919". As an educator for thirty years she was an English teacher, event and meeting planner, served as an educational consultant and intern-teacher mentor. She contributed to textbooks on women's history and classroom management and has facilitated workshops on both subjects. Renee considers herself a "missionary journalist" and as such she continues to promote heritage and sustainable tourism. 2013 Recipient of African Diaspora World Tourism Flame Keeper in Media Award for Travel Writing Affiliations
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