For decades, Martha Suggs-Spencer has carried history not just in boxes and binders, but in memory and lived experience.
Spencer, founder of the now-closed James Douglas Suggs Underground Railroad Museum in Vandalia and co-creator of the long-running Freedom Festival with her late husband, Willie Lee King Spencer, has spent most of her life preserving stories others might overlook. Stories of family, freedom and survival passed down orally through generations.
Born into a family shaped by migration, segregation and endurance, Spencer traces her devotion to history back to her father, James Douglas Suggs, a traveling musician in the Rabbit Foot Minstrel Show, professional baseball player, World War I veteran and storyteller born in Mississippi.
As a child, Suggs-Spencer listened closely as he recounted stories of railroad workers like Casey Jones, riverboats and folklore from the Deep South, impressions that stayed with her long after his death when she was still young.
She also learned about the area’s overlooked role in the Underground Railroad, including an 1847 incident in which escaped enslaved people from Kentucky were defended by Cass County Quakers against slave catchers.
“My dad taught me to want to know everything,” Spencer said. “Where people came from. What they went through. Why it mattered.” That curiosity eventually became a mission.
Suggs-Spencer’s work was deeply intertwined with her family life. She and her husband traveled tens of thousands of miles across the country in a well-worn van, visiting courthouses, libraries and historic sites to trace family genealogy and recover documents linking Black and white branches of the Suggs family – all the way back to their first arrival in the U.S.
“Everywhere I go, I go to the libraries, run to the microfilms,” she said. Over the decades, Suggs-Spencer also formed connections with historians, archivists and public figures, including a correspondence from former President
Gerald Ford – and later, a personal phone call after the letter was included in Suggs-Spencer’s 1995 book “Suggs Black Backtracks.” After settling back in Vandalia as an adult, drawing on family collections, courthouse records and artifacts, Spencer and her husband restored her old family homestead and opened the James Douglas Suggs Underground Railroad Museum in 1994. The museum was built largely by hand.
Spencer’s husband, who had an eighth-grade education and a background in construction, handled the interior reconstruction himself. Together, the couple funded the project through personal savings, credit cards and donations.
That same year, the Spencers launched Vandalia’s first Freedom Festival, a public celebration intended to honor the town’s Underground Railroad history and promote unity. The gathering quickly drew visitors from across the region, eventually becoming a recurring event featuring parades, historical reenactments and educational programming.
“It was about bringing people together, Black and white, and telling the truth about where we came from,” Spencer said. In the spirit of black and white coming together, the museum’s front lawn was decorated with two cutouts: a cutout of her father and his friend, Richard M. Dorson.
The couple’s work was not without opposition. Over the years, the museum was vandalized, signage was removed, and Suggs-Spencer said she faced hostility from some community members. Still, they persisted, guided by a belief in patience and dignity. “We never let anger take over,” Suggs-Spencer said. “You keep going. You regroup.”
The museum eventually closed following Willie Spencer’s declining health, but Suggs-Spencer continues to share her research through writing, public speaking and family-led events. Now in her mid-80s, she hopes her lifelong work will inspire others to continue documenting local history before it disappears. “I may not reopen another museum,” she said. “But the stories don’t stop.”
For Suggs-Spencer, history lives on in people, places and in the belief that remembering the past is an act of freedom itself.
Key Aspects of Martha Suggs-Spencer’s Work and Life:
Mission: Founded in 1994, the museum aimed to highlight the role of Vandalia as a major stop on the Underground Railroad and promote racial harmony, specifically showcasing how black and white families lived together in the area.
The Freedom Festival: The Spencers created the annual Suggs Freedom Festival, a long-running event in Vandalia featuring music, history, and community, designed to honor the legacy of her father.
Family Legacy: Her dedication stems from her father, James Douglas Suggs, a Mississippi native, WWI veteran, and traveling musician/storyteller who helped researchers document black folklore in Michigan.
Preservation Efforts: Beyond the museum, she has authored books, including Suggs Black Backtracks, to document her heritage.
Museum Closure: In 2019, at ages 79 and 83, the Spencers faced the closure of their museum due to health issues and the immense, unpaid effort required to maintain the collection.
Current Status: Following the passing of her husband, Willie Lee Spencer, in July 2025, Martha has continued to face challenges in preserving her life’s work and seeking support for her, as shown in recent fundraising efforts to continue her ancestry research.
Reposted with permission by Maksym Hart, Staff Writer, www.inkfreenews.com
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