Programs & Events

The Underground Railroad in Ridgefield: A Hidden Piece of Black History Revealed

Ridgefield Town Historian Jack Sanders will be joined on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 by Ira Joe Fisher for a conversation centered around Sanders’ book, Uncle Ned’s Mountain, Three centuries of African Americans — free and enslaved — in a small New England town. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at the program from Books on the Common. The Black History Month event is presented by the Ridgefield Historical Society and The Meetinghouse in Ridgebury and is part of both organizations’ commemoration of the 250th anniversary of America in 2026.

Several years ago, Mr. Sanders discovered and wrote about the existence of a station on the Underground Railroad that had been quietly maintained by Ned and Betsy Armstrong, who were well-known in the Ridgebury community. As free Blacks raising their family in a small compound off what is now called Ned’s Mountain Road, the Armstrongs risked the harsh penalties of the Fugitive Slave Acts to provide a temporary haven for those who were fleeing southern enslavement.

Ira Joe Fisher, an acclaimed broadcaster and Ridgefield Poet Laureate, is a lively interlocutor, as he and Mr. Sanders demonstrated in their last Ridgefield Historical Society program together, a discussion of Mr. Sanders’ book, Here Lyes Ye Body, in October at Lounsbury House.

The Saturday, Feb. 21, conversation (snow date Feb. 28) will take place at 2 p.m. at The Meetinghouse (Ridgebury Congregational Church, 605 Ridgebury Road), a short distance north of where the Armstrongs once lived and a short distance south of where they are buried in Ridgebury Cemetery. The hour-long program will touch on many other aspects of the lives of Black Americans in Ridgefield, from the earliest days of the town to present day.

A reception will follow at Shields Hall, across Ridgebury Road from the church; parking is on that side of the road (some accessible parking is available on Canterbury Lane). Tickets are limited, nonrefundable, and $20 per person ($15 for members of the Ridgefield Historical Society and The Meetinghouse) available online here. Contact 203-438-5821 or [email protected] for more information.