Explore Yorkville’s secret history with the Underground Railroad

The secret history of Chapel on the Green’s involvement with the Underground Railroad is coming to life with a free presentation in Yorkville at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26, 107 W. Center Street.

The National Park Service recognized the church, the oldest in Kendall County, as an official “National Underground Network to Freedom” site in 2023.

President of the Chapel, Susan Kritzberg, is hosting a presentation on the church members’ roles during the abolitionist movement, their methods for concealing runaway slaves, and how they used safe houses to evade detection.

When erected in 1855, the church was known as Bristol Congregational Church. Kritzberg is presenting the research she compiled when digging into the early church’s connections to a strongly abolitionist church in New York that hosted black and white members as early as 1812.

“The presentation will highlight early members of those Bristol congregations who served as dedicated station keepers, drivers, and helpers on the Underground Railroad in Kendall County during the mid-1800’s, and will explore routes of the Underground Railroad statewide and locally,” Kritzberg said in a release.

Kritzberg is presenting historical photos of the early church, original maps, as well as shedding light on nine 1836 charter members of Bristol Congregation Church.

Attending community members will be encouraged to join in the conversation.