Starting Sept. 1, the Ypsilanti District Library’s (YDL) Whittaker Branch will host photographer Jeanine Michna-Bales’s exhibition "Through Darkness to Light," showcasing photographs that represent what enslaved people might have witnessed on their journey along the Underground Railroad. YDL will also offer programs highlighting Washtenaw County's local connections to the Underground Railroad throughout September and October at the library's Superior branch and online, encouraging the community to reflect on this significant part of history.

Michna-Bales’ visual essay spans 14 years of research and photography. She took photos in locations from Louisiana to Canada primarily at night, in order to depict people's journeys from the South to the North to escape slavery. Alongside the 25 photographs in the collection are quotes from major historical figures in the fight for freedom, such as abolitionists Levi Coffin and Harriet Tubman, as well as words from formerly enslaved people themselves.

"I purposefully photographed from an enslaved person’s viewpoint because I wanted to do them justice," Michna-Bales says. "The darkness is intentional, because it means you can’t breeze through the images, and you have to soak in the details and step into that person’s viewpoint."
courtesy Jeanine Michna-BalesJeanine Michna-Bales.
Midland, Mich. native Michna-Bales says her extensive research led her to Washtenaw County, where she learned of Ypsilanti’s connections to the Underground Railroad. She took a handful of photos in the county (which did not make it into the final essay) as she made her way towards Ontario, Canada, where the final photo in the series, titled "Freedom," was shot. 

Michna-Bales says the entire project felt "strangely serendipitous" throughout. She was deeply affected by each site as she traveled primarily at night, just as enslaved people would have as they traveled from safe house to safe house.

"Most people that were fleeing would travel roughly 20 miles a night, so I used that methodology to have all of the stops be around 20 miles apart," Michna-Bales says. "I wondered if the land absorbed what happened on it. You could feel the trauma on each site."
Doug CoombeJulianne Smith and Sam Killian during the installation "Through Darkness to Light" at the YDL Whittaker Branch.
Sam Killian, community relations coordinator for YDL, praises the uniqueness of Michna-Bales' work.

"This whole exhibit [features] something that not a lot of people have seen visually, because there isn’t a lot of documentation that exists," Killian says. "We really hope that people try to engage in this in a personal way."

YDL Assistant Director Julianne Smith says the library has hosted successful one-off programming centered around the Underground Railroad, and centered a series of programs around an art installation, before. But this will be the first time the library has done a program series based on the Underground Railroad. She hopes that the programs being offered around this exhibit will appeal to a broad audience of all ages, and that attendees are able to learn something new about their community
courtesy Jeanine Michna-Bales"Hidden In Plain Sight" by Jeanine Michna-Bales.
"This exhibit was perfect for the library," Smith says. "We have a spot recognized in Ypsi on the Michigan Freedom Trail, and we thought it was a natural pick."

Alongside the exhibit, the library will offer a number of other activities, both in person at its Whittaker branch and online, centering around the Underground Railroad and its continued effects on society. Those will include actress Christine Dixon's performance of her one-woman show "Harriet Tubman Herself" on Sept. 14, quilt scholar Marsha McDowell's virtual presentation about the history of African-American quiltmaking and the Black Diaspora Quilt History Project on Sept. 17, and a discussion on personal connections to the Underground Railroad led by Michigan Freedom Trail commissioner Adelaide Lancaster on Oct. 1.

Local collaborations are also a part of the schedule of activities. Those will include children’s storytimes hosted by Black Men Read, a charter bus tour of "the most important African American historical sites in Washtenaw County" led by African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County docent Deborah Meadows, and reflective writing prompts provided by YpsiWrites available for pickup whenever the library is open. The series will end on Oct. 20 with a performance by the Ypsilanti Community Middle School Choir.
Doug CoombeJulianne Smith, John Connaghan, and Sam Killian hanging the Through "Darkness to Light" Exhibit at the YDL Whittaker Branch.
"We always want people to have a deeper appreciation and knowledge of a topic," Smith says. "With all of these programs, we hope that people take away new knowledge and increase what they already know, and help them think deeper about those who were involved with the Underground Railroad."

"Through Darkness to Light" will be available to view at YDL's Whittaker branch, 5577 Whittaker Rd. in Ypsilanti Township, from Sept. 1 to Oct. 20 during regular library hours. The exhibit and all associated programming are free to the public, with some events requiring pre-registration. To see a full schedule of events and to learn more, visit YDL’s website. More information about "Through Darkness to Light," as well as various educational resources about the Underground Railroad, can be found here. The project has also been compiled into a book, which can be purchased here.

"I honestly don’t think I understood the implications of what slavery in this country left behind, and how it applies to things like racial profiling and voting rights today," Michna-Bales says. "I am a completely different person from when I started this project to when I finished it."

Rylee Barnsdale is a Michigan native and longtime Washtenaw County resident. She wants to use her journalistic experience from her time at Eastern Michigan University writing for the Eastern Echo to tell the stories of Washtenaw County residents that need to be heard.

All photos by Doug Coombe.