OK, for the final Friday of Black History Month 2026, here is a reading on the Underground Railroad along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.
Should you be interested, as I most certainly was when I first heard it two years ago, here is a National Public Radio story about the Underground Railroad, and in particular a man named Thomas Smallwood. As the interview subject, Scott Shane, observes, “Thomas Smallwood is an amazing guy who very few people know about.” Mr. Shane thought it sufficiently important that people know about Thomas Smallwood that he wrote a book on Mr. Smallwood, Flee North: A Forgotten Hero and the Fight for Freedom in Slavery’s Borderland.
When we think about the Underground Railroad, we tend, rightly, to think of Harriet Tubman. Thomas Smallwood is easily her equal in heroic feats of helping slaves escape bondage. He should be better known.
If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
Mark's Text Terminal 