Authentic Slave Pens, Shackles & Freedom Flames Are Laid Bare at This Powerful Ohio Museum

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, OH

Right on the banks of the Ohio River, this museum tells the real stories of the Underground Railroad, from the brave people who ran to freedom to those who helped them get there.

Here’s an inside look at one of America’s most important civil rights museums.

Walk through a real 1830s slave pen with its stone floor and fireplace

This log jail once held real people before they were sold. Men were chained on the second floor while women stayed on the first floor where they cooked.

Most folks speak in whispers when they step inside, feeling the weight of what happened here. You can see the names of some slaves held in the pen on a wooden slab inside.

Touch the walls and notice the metal rings where chains once held human beings. The pen has eight small windows that let in tiny bits of light, making the harsh living space all too real.

Trace three hundred years of slavery from its start to the Civil War

This huge display covers the full story from when slavery began in the Americas until it ended after the Civil War. You’ll learn who the slaves were, why they came here, how they lived, and how they got free.

Folks who came in January 2025 say it’s one of the most moving parts of the museum. The gallery uses both art and copies of real papers to tell the story.

Your journey starts with the slave trade in 1500 and goes through the passing of the 13th Amendment in 1865. Plan to spend at least 45 minutes here to take it all in.

See stars that match the morning when Lincoln freed the slaves

Sit back in this theater and watch three short films about how freedom has been under attack throughout history, with focus on the Underground Railroad and slavery in America.

The ceiling sparkles with stars in the same pattern as the morning when President Lincoln signed the paper to free slaves.

These moving scenes about freedom, slavery, and the Underground Railroad set the stage for your whole visit.

Make tough choices in an escape game that puts you in a slave’s shoes

Try this hands-on display where you face the hard picks people made when running from slavery. You’ll meet key folks like William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass.

This kid-friendly spot is set apart from the main areas and gives you a more active way to learn.

Put on VR goggles and sit where Rosa Parks stood up to bus rules

For just $5 more, put on a Samsung VR headset, sit on mock bus seats, and live through Rosa Parks’ brave stand against bus rules in 1955.

You’ll see, hear, and feel what Parks went through when she said no to giving up her seat. You can turn and see all the other riders on the bus, making it feel so real you might get tense.

Learn how six big problems keep people from being free today

This strong display shows how the fight for rights goes on around the world now. The film looks at six big blocks to freedom: hunger, not being able to read, slavery, racism, mean rulers, and mass killing.

You’ll see how the past links to now, with proof that the Underground Railroad has helped groups in India, Poland and South Africa.

Take a test that shows the bias we all carry without knowing it

This brain lab helps you spot biases we all have but don’t see. Based on facts showing we all hold views we don’t know about, it gives you tasks to find your own blind spots.

You can try the Harvard test that digs up your own hidden thoughts. The walls tell how our world is full of false views about groups that sink in deep over time.

The center even trains big firms on how to deal with these hidden views. This spot has been open since at least 2017 and keeps drawing folks who want to know their own minds better.

Search your own family tree with free help from trained guides

This handy space lets you dig into your own roots and learn about the Underground Railroad too.

Open four days a week from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., you’ll get free help from trained folks who can show you how to search.

You don’t need to pay for the museum to use the library – it’s open to all at no cost. Call (513) 333-7654 at least a week before you come to book time with a guide and get the most from your visit.

Gaze at the Ohio River that once split slave states from free ones

Take a break in the Grand Hall with its huge windows to view the Ohio River – once the line that split slave states from free states. Many slaves crossed these waters from Kentucky into Cincinnati seeking a new life.

Pause by the non-stop flame that burns for all who seek rights

This moving spot has a flame that never goes out as a sign of the fight for rights that keeps going. The Flame of Freedom pays respect to the many who were owned and the few who fought to change things.

It works as a light of hope and the push for rights that never ends. You’ll find it near the way out, and many folks miss it if they leave right at closing time (they lock up the flame area about 20 minutes before the final bell).

Check the new shows that change with stories of rights and art

Past the main spots, the Freedom Center hosts fresh shows that look at new sides of rights, laws, and fair play.

Past shows have had art that helps heal pain, photos of Black men, and quilts made by women of color about race in our land.

In 2025, you can see new spots on human trade now and civil rights past. Folks who came not long ago liked a show on the Green Book – the guide that helped Black folks find safe spots on the road before the 1960s.

It’s open five days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and you should plan for at least three hours to see it all. They let folks in free on the fifth and third Sunday each month, plus on MLK Day and June 19th.