On Thursday, October 7th, 2021, the Waverly Community House officially unveiled the Destination Freedom Special Exhibitions Gallery. A collaborative project with local organizations such as the Lackawanna and Susquehanna County Historical Societies, the Black Scranton Project, and the Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area, the gallery serves as yet another aspect of the Destination Freedom: Underground Railroad Walking Tour program here at The Comm.

Thanks to generous loans from the organizations mentioned above, our collection has expanded from a few 19th-century newspapers, prints, and maps to now including Civil War-era artifacts with direct connections to the history and themes that we cover in our program. Ranging from items such as a Civil War officer’s sword and scabbard to the personal sketchbook of Waverly’s integrated Grand Army of the Republic post to a bullet-stricken board taken from the Gettysburg battlefield, the gallery offers visitors tangible links to what they learn about here on the Destination Freedom tour. And if you are interested in doing your own research, the gallery offers access to some of our historic documents as well as our library of primary and secondary sources. Soon, guests will also have access to online research databases that will allow researchers the opportunity to conduct their own investigations into local history.

The Destination Freedom Special Exhibitions Gallery is open to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 PM to 7 PM and also by appointment. The room is located on the second floor of the south wing of the building, near the corner of North Abington Road and Church Street in Waverly. We look forward to having you visit and learn more about the amazing history of our area!