Biking Author to Reflect on Trek of Escapees from Slavery

Climate scientist David Goodrich returns to Lawnside, Sunday, October 29 to share thoughts from his first visit captured in “On Freedom Road: Bicycle Explorations and Reckonings on the Underground Railroad.” The book chronicles four years riding 3,000 miles along Underground Railroad routes, including a stop at the Peter Mott House.

His talk, co-sponsored by the Lawnside Historical Society, Haddon Heights Historical Society and the Historical Society of Haddonfield, will start at 2:30 p.m. in the Wayne R. Bryant Community Center, 323 E. Charleston Ave. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased on EventBrite or the Events page of petermotthouse.org.

Routes followed the most famous of conductors, Harriet Tubman, from where she was enslaved on Maryland’s eastern shore, all the way to her family sanctuary at a tiny chapel in Ontario, Canada. In fact, Goodrich advised the Underground Railroad Nine to stop at the Peter Mott House on their recent 1,200-mile odyssey to the Emancipation Festival in Canada.

He will read from, discuss, sell and sign copies of the book. Publisher’s Weekly wrote, “Throughout, Goodrich reveals how slavery is remembered and misremembered in America, and makes a convincing case that 'national trauma, like a wound, tends to heal when it’s exposed to air.' It’s a harrowing yet inspirational ride.”

Mr. Goodrich worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and served as the Director of the UN Global Climate Observing System in Geneva, Switzerland. He retired as head of NOAA's Climate Observations and Monitoring Program. In addition to his cross-country bicycle trip, he has ridden down the Appalachians and across Montana, South Dakota, France and Spain. He lives in Maryland.