By Amanda Alaniz
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – FEB. 27, 2025 – UTRGV's Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) program’s years-long research on South Texas’s role in the Underground Railroad continues to garner national attention.
Representatives from the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center in Cambridge, Maryland, have reached out to CHAPS to help organize the Rio Grande Valley’s first “Walking the Southern Roads to Freedom” event.
Scheduled for March 3-9, participants will walk 65 miles over the seven days. The free event will begin at La Sal del Ray near Edinburg, proceed to Reynosa, Mexico and conclude at the historic Bethel Garden Park in McAllen.
Roseann Bacha-Garza, manager of the CHAPS program and lecturer II in Anthropology, noted that the plans for the walk began after the Valley received a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom designation for the Jackson Ranch Church and Martin Jackson Cemetery in San Juan.
“The event’s goal is to increase awareness about the resilience and resolve of freedom seekers of African ancestry who took part in underground railroad-like activities from South Texas to Mexico, as well as bring awareness to the valuable shared history of our region,” she said.
Linda Harris, director of programming at the Harriet Tubman Museum Educational Center, has organized similar “walks to freedom” events in several states.
Participants will cover 65 miles over seven days, visiting historic sites and landmarks in Hidalgo County, including La Sal del Rey, the Restlawn African American Historic Cemetery, the City of Alamo Central Park, Webber Ranch Cemetery, Jackson Ranch Church and Cemetery and the Bethel Garden Community Park.
Bacha-Garza added that attendees will learn about important aspects of Black history, with each day concluding with moments of reflection, songs and camaraderie.
The event will also feature a stop in Mexico to commemorate its role in the journey to freedom. On Saturday, March 8, participants will cross the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge to the “Plaza Principal” in Reynosa to learn more about the freedom efforts.
The event will wrap up on Sunday, March 9, with a celebration and concert at Bethel Garden Park in McAllen’s La Paloma neighborhood.
OVERVIEW OF WALKING TO FREEDOM
- Day 1 (March 3): La Sal del Rey to Frontier Rustic Store (12.7 miles)
- Day 2 (March 4): Frontier Rustic Store to Restlawn Cemetery (9.5 miles)
- Day 3 (March 5): Restlawn Cemetery to City of Alamo Central Park (12 miles)
- Day 4 (March 6): City of Alamo Central Park to Webber Ranch Cemetery (10.2 miles)
- Day 5 (March 7): Webber Ranch Cemetery to Jackson Ranch Church & Cemetery (5.8 miles)
- Day 6 (March 8): Jackson Ranch Church & Cemetery to McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge (7.4 miles)
- Day 7 (March 9): McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge to Bethel Garden Park (7.4 miles)
To RSVP for the free event, visit www.harriettubmanmuseumcenter.org/events-1/walking-the-southern-roads-to-freedom.
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.
