National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a museum rooted in the stories of the Underground Railroad and situated on the banks of the Ohio River – a natural, historical boundary between freedom and slavery. The Freedom Center’s focus is to illuminate the true meaning of inclusive freedom by presenting permanent and special exhibits that inspire dialogue and action from visitors, as well as educational resources that equip modern abolitionists to pick up the cause of social activism.

For the Freedom Center’s newest permanent gallery, In This Place, batwin + robin had the privilege of working with the Freedom Center and Ralph Applebaum & Associates to create a 40’ x 12’ edge-blended panoramic media program exploring the significance of Cincinnati’s place on the Ohio River to the struggle of freedom seekers heading northward to escape slavery in the south. The piece tells the story of Cincinnati’s importance to the Underground Railroad in the context of its geography and connects the activists of this historical movement to other freedom struggles in the United States from the late 19th century through today. 

b+r also created a second ambient media piece that plays in the gallery between showings of the main media program. This ambient piece focuses on the importance of different historical locations in and around Cincinnati and creates a thoughtful, poetic backdrop for visitors while they explore the rest of the gallery – which includes an interactive media table created by our project partners at Upswell. 

In addition to managing the creation of both linear pieces and the interactive, b+r was responsible for designing, scripting, and animating the media using a combination of historical archival imagery, contemporary images / footage of the Cincinnati area, and dynamic text and motion graphics. We also fully scored and sound designed the media.