© 2026 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Thoreau Begins to Work with the Underground Railroad

Season 1 Episode 3 | 5m 03s

In 1850, the U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act, makes it legal for slave owners to reclaim any runaways, even those who had escaped to free states. The women of the Thoreau household had already been active in the Underground Railroad, but this new law spurs Thoreau into action, too. Thoreau gives an impassioned speech about the freedoms that all human beings deserve titled "Walking."

Episodes presented in 4K UHD on supported devices. Major funding for HENRY DAVID THOREAU was provided by The Better Angels Society and its members: The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment and Mark A. Tracy. Major funding was also provided by Jeff Skoll, the Mansueto Foundation, Tyson Foods, Inc., and The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Additional funding was provided by the Tyson Family Foundation Inc, The Neil and Anna Rasmussen Foundation, Roxanne Quimby Foundation Inc, Jim and Mona Mylen through The HeartSpace Fund, and Elizabeth Kenny.
Extras
Celebrate the life and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver.
Preview: 250 Years of Americana
A Vermont couple finds new ways to better protect their land from drought and floods.
Soybeans may soon be part of the asphalt beneath you.
An Iowa farm thrives as one of the state’s few Black-owned farms.
A Georgia farm keeps the produce coming year-round by planting and harvesting in different locations
See how college students are turning soybeans into new products like baby wipes.
A California farmer shares easy-to-grow mushrooms with giftable box kits.
A Montana rancher honors his ancestors, and Mother Earth, by restoring native grasses to his land.
A Minnesota farm family plants a new kind of wheat that restores the soil and saves water.
Latest Episodes
After young Thoreau fails at a career in writing, he retreats to a cabin in the woods.
Thoreau lives at Walden Pond where he writes, while exploring nature — and himself.
After Walden, Thoreau takes on new roles and adventures as an illness catches up with him.