Eastern Shore’s Isaac Mason Escape Site Officially Added as Underground Railroad Network Destination

Chestertown ceremony honors freedom seeker’s legacy, Mason’s descendants presented with citation by Gov. Moore.

A multi-decade effort by local researchers, community leaders, and descendants culminated yesterday as the Isaac Mason Escape Site, locatedat 101 Spring Avenue in Chestertown, was formally celebrated and dedicated as the only Eastern Shore addition among the newest members of the U.S. National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. 

The site (map here) was the former Mansfield home from which Isaac Mason, then called William Thompson, escaped enslavement in 1846. The public celebration at what is now the headquarters of the Kent Cultural Alliance (KCA) concluded with the unveiling of an official marker on the building's front porch, ensuring Mason's courage is permanently honored. 

The Isaac Mason Escape Site received the Network to Freedom designation in May 2025, a rare honor for the Upper Shore location and a powerful acknowledgment of Mason’s self-liberation journey, which he chronicled in his detailed 1893 memoir, Life of Isaac Mason as a Slave. 

The day’s proceedings highlighted the collaborative effort that led to the site's validation. Representatives of the State of Maryland, State of Delaware, Kent Cultural Alliance, the Washington College Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, and Mason family descendants were in attendance and presented on the significance of the designation. 

“The story of Isaac Mason and his courageous pursuit of freedom continues to inspire us today. This addition to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program affirms not only his legacy, but the broader history of resilience, hope, and self-determination that defines America and our pursuit of a more perfect union. The collaborative efforts of the Kent Cultural Alliance and Washington College are ensuring that the lessons from our past guide our way toward a future of greater justice and equality,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen. 

The official designation is the result of two decades of intensive archival work led by the Starr Center, in collaboration with the Kent Cultural Alliance. The research began approximately 20 years ago when an undergraduate first identified the site as a possible location for Mason's escape. Subsequent generations of students and staff diligently followed these leads, delving into early land deeds, wills, newspapers, and State Archives to definitively pinpoint 101 Spring Avenue as the former Mansfield home. This extensive, multi-year process culminated in the submission of a comprehensive 45-page dossier to the National Parks Service, which validated the history and secured the site’s place on the Network to Freedom. 

Mason descendants Zoë Angenette Vilicic, Nia Holley, and Cheryll Toney Holley with Starr Center Deputy Director Jaelon T. Moaney. 

The event featured a rich program of music, readings, and a retelling of Mason’s life and the research that led to the site’s recognition. 

“We gather here today to honor Isaac Mason, not just for his escape but for his many accomplishments,” said Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold Director of the Starr Center, detailing Mason’s journey to become an entrepreneur, a businessman, a civic leader, and the author of a historically important autobiography. He gave credit to the decades of Washington College students whose research resulted in the successful application to the National Parks Service. “We [now] honor this place as a place of survival, self-determination, and liberation. We here are gathered to keep alive the flame of memory. Let our remembrance be resistance.” 

“All of us at the Kent Cultural Alliance are grateful for the diligent research by staff and students at Washington College that led to this recognition,” said KCA Director John Schratwieser. “Celebrating places of self-liberation is a critical step in amplifying the truth of our past. Isaac Mason will forever be honored in this building. We are grateful for the partnership that brought this moment to fruition.” 

Kent County-born musician Marlon Saunders opened the proceedings with a selection from Isaac: A Musical Journey, a testament to Mason’s enduring influence on local culture. The play was commissioned by the KCA and written by Saunders. Jerome McKinney later read a powerful excerpt from Mason’s autobiography, providing a firsthand local voice to the history being honored.  

Sue Matthews, wife of Washington College Interim President Bryan Matthews, offered the welcome from Washington College. Matthews’s participation underscored the College’s commitment to Mason’s story, as she previously starred as the character Hannah Woodward in the musical’s premiere. She performed a number from the musical at the event.   

Local artist Jason Patterson, whose portrait of Mason hangs in the KCA lobby, also offered reflections on the transformative power of the site’s history on the local arts community. Past Washington College student researcher Kathy Thornton ‘13 recounted her time as an intern at the Maryland State Archives where she traced facts about Mason’s escape in newspaper runaway slave ads by using his original enslaved name, William Thompson. The discovery helped in locating the home of Mason’s enslavers.  

Some of the most poignant moments of the evening involved several of Mason’s descendants who were present for the event—Zoë Angenette Vilicic, Nia Holley, and Cheryll Toney Holley. 

Holley spoke about the personal meaning of the national recognition.  “I think Isaac Mason would be astonished by this – I am astonished,” she said, noting her family’s gratitude for the collective efforts that made the recognition possible. “For my family, this is more than a national honor—it is a homecoming. Today, thanks to the work of all of you, Isaac’s story has come home. The very building that he escaped from, still standing strong, now houses artists and community members who keep memory alive. To know that the courage of Isaac is recognized in the landscape where he once walked is a source of joy, pride, and healing. It is proof that our ancestors’ sacrifices were not in vain, and that their voices continue to inspire freedom’s work today.” 

Concluding the ceremony, Jaelon T. Moaney, deputy director of the Starr Center and vice chair of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, presented a formal citation on behalf of the State, affirming the site’s statewide importance before the official marker was unveiled. 

“If you walk away with nothing else today, it should be that Isaac Mason didn’t leave it up to anyone else to tell his story. He authored his own narrative and published it with dignity… so that an ear may hear, so that the truth is known and so that future generations act,” said Moaney. “This National Park Service listing is more than a federal designation; it’s an affirmation that our places, our people and our pain belong in the story of America.”  

The newly installed marker serves as a visible reminder that the Kent Cultural Alliance building is now a recognized location on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, symbolizing the tenacity of those who sought and claimed their own liberty. 

- Dominique Ellis Falcon