The Man Who Inspired "Uncle Tom" was an Underground Railroad Leader

At the Josiah Henson Museum and Park in North Bethesda, Maryland, history comes alive on the grounds of the former Isaac Riley Plantation — where Reverend Josiah Henson was enslaved for more than 30 years.

Henson’s extraordinary life inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the 1852 novel that galvanized the abolitionist movement. But while the fictional “Uncle Tom” became a misunderstood caricature, Henson himself was a freedom fighter, preacher, and community leader who helped more than 100 people escape slavery through the Underground Railroad and later founded the Dawn Settlement in Canada.

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This video is part of WETA's house-hunting series IF YOU LIVED HERE, which spotlights a wide array of neighborhoods and properties throughout the DMV. Hosts, best friends and longtime Washingtonians Christine Louise and John Begeny tour homes and communities with local realtors, exploring the DC region one neighborhood at a time.

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