Portland Freedom Trail: Barber Shop of Jacob. C. Dickson - Portland, ME
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 43° 39.556 W 070° 15.033
19T E 399165 N 4834789
A Portland Freedom Trail marker is located at 243 Fore St. at the former site of the barber shop of Jacob C. Dickson, a former secretary of the Portland Anti-slavery Society.
Waymark Code: WM10T6A
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 06/20/2019
Views: 2
Bronze and granite monuments mark the sites on the Portland Freedom Trail. The trail is: "Dedicated to the countless thousands of men and women who fled the bonds of slavery but were recaptured or died at the hands of their pursuers before they reached the safe embrace of the Underground Railroad."
The monument contains a bronze relief image of a conductor leading runaway slaves via the underground railroad at night. It is inscribed:
PORTLAND FREEDOM TRAIL
MAINE FREEDOM TRAILS ESTABLISHED 2007
Below is a bronze plaque which has an image of a conductor on the underground railroad holding a lantern, a barber pole, and the inscription:
THE BARBER SHOP OF JACOB C. DICKSON
ONCE STOOD AT 243 FORE
STREET. HE WAS ELECTED SECRETARY
OF THE PORTLAND UNION ANTI
-SLAVERY SOCIETY ON JUNE 1, 1842.
BARBER SHOPS WERE IMPORTANT CENTERS FOR THE
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION IN THE OPERATION OF THE
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. THE WIGS, BEARDS, AND
OTHER FACIAL COVERINGS THEY SOLD COULD CHANGE
THE APPEARANCE OF A PERSON. COOPERATING
WITH HACK DRIVERS, DOMESTIC WORKERS, SECONDHAND
CLOTHING DEALERS AND MARINERS, THEY WERE ESSENTIAL
IN MOVING FUGITIVES TO FREEDOM IN CANADA AND
ENGLAND