The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center joins friends and family in mourning the loss of renowned historian Carl Westmoreland, who died Thursday at age 85 in Cincinnati.
Westmoreland was a longtime supporter of the Freedom Center, advocating for its creation and serving as its historian for nearly 20 years.
“It is impossible to measure Mr. Westmoreland’s impact on our institution and our local and global community,” said Woodrow Keown, Jr., president and COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. “His wisdom and his passion for storytelling revealed a history of pain and perseverance, struggle and stoicism, agency and action. His impact will forever be felt within the Freedom Center and in a community he has been so instrumental in educating.”
Westmoreland was one of the first Black scholars to serve on the National Trust for Historic Preservation. His work included research on the history of the internal slave trade in America and the historic role class, gender, race, and enslavement have played within contemporary political, social and economic issues.
Before the Freedom Center opened its doors in 2004, Westmoreland was shaping its message. When shown early designs for a marble exterior, he objected, saying African Americans have never known a smooth journey. The iconic rough, rugged marble exterior of the Freedom Center as we know it is emblematic of the African American journey, and Westmoreland’s passion for telling our history in its raw detail.
He also discovered and helped restore one of the Freedom Center’s most powerful artifacts: a slave pen discovered in Mason County, Kentucky. Westmoreland slept in the slave pen at night to feel what it was like to be in such a situation, to lose one’s identity and humanity. He brought that same emotion when he shared its history with groups of students or museum guests. He believed in the power of history and the importance of feeling those moments.
Westmoreland was also, and importantly, a mentor to scores of Freedom Center staff over his nearly 20 years with the institution. He was an advocate and a champion for those around him, offering invaluable support and wisdom to museum professionals, historians and educators navigating the dark, painful moments of American history, and to Black professionals navigating a culture in America that required them to often work harder for less.
“Mr. Westmoreland was a community organizer, preservationist and a distinguished voice of the ancestors who endured enslavement and oppression,” said Chris Miller, senior director of education and community engagement for the Freedom Center. “He challenged and inspired us to use historical accounts, that are often uncomfortable, as a constructive tool to bring perspective and resolution to diverse communities. He was an intellectual force that has left a lasting impact on Cincinnati and beyond.”
Seldom in our life time do we see or meet a man who was so wise, intelligent, and caring for others. The world was a better place because God allowed all of us to meet and know him I thank God Carl for the many days we worked together in Mount Auburn, West End, and Over The Rhine with the city of Cincinnati in our Neighborhoods, Model Cities and our community Councils .Thanks for all the work you did for all of us for the betterment of our communities YOU will never be Forgotten
Doris Brown