Lansdowne Was Pro-Abolition
Poulos discovered that her town of Lansdowne was founded in 1789, but nearly a decade earlier, in 1780, Pennsylvania passed the Gradual Abolition of Slavery Act. This meant that her state had adopted abolition early on, but unfortunately, Pennsylvania was still 50/50 on the issue. So, anyone who lent runaway slaves a hand had to keep them hidden, which is exactly what the former owners of Poulos’ home did. But why did people call it the Underground Railroad?