The question of how to engage people about the Underground Railroad in the social media age will be the focus of a panel taking place Friday, which is Juneteenth.

This year marks the 161st anniversary of Juneteenth, the day enslaved Black people in Texas were granted their freedom — two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

In a panel discussion, four Underground Railroad scholars will speak about the “process, excitement and challenges” of curating stories about the network of freedom seekers in the social media age.

Ruth Linear, founding director of Jacksonville African American History Museum, and Britteny Yancy, assistant professor of history and African American Studies program coordinator at Illinois College, are among the panelists. The museum partners every year with Illinois College on a student-curated exhibit. Last year, the student exhibit focused Malcolm X; this year, it will focus on freedom seeking.

“When I go to the schools to talk about Black history and the Underground Railroad, many of the students, they learn just a little bit about it, but not in-depth,” Linear said.

The museum opened in 2022, well into the modern landscape into which museums have been trying to fit. Linear said she’s seen social media be the catalyst for some students’ learning about the Underground Railroad.

“That’s where they’re really getting stuff at, it’s on social media,” Linear said. “And I think they’re learning from social media, too. And if they would come to the museums … they can get more in-depth, the answers that they would like to have.”

The other two panelists are Brian Mitchell of the University of Illinois Springfield’s Center for Lincoln Studies and Kathryn Harris, former director of library services at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The panel discussion will be at 6 p.m. Friday at Centenary United Methodist Church, 331 E. State St.

The panel is free and open to the public. After the discussion, people will be able to tour the Underground Railroad exhibit at Jacksonville Area Museum, 301 E. State St. The exhibit is a traveling display through Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, a 43-county area of Illinois in which Lincoln worked, traveled and lived.

“Journey to Freedom: Illinois’ Underground Railroad” highlights the stories of freedom seekers and conductors who assisted them on the Underground Railroad in Illinois, according to organizers.

The panel will be moderated by Jacksonville Area Museum manager Tori Ohl and board member Chad Boehlke.