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National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
50 E Freedom WayCincinnati, OH 45202
Neighborhood: Downtown
(513) 333-7500
- Hours:
Tue-Sat 10 am - 5 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
30 reviews for National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Review Highlights
"...an exhibit about modern day slavery and trafficking, some..."
(in 3 reviews)
"The exhibits are all extremely well done."
(in 4 reviews)
"Definitely a must see in Cincy."
(in 3 reviews)
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30 reviews in English
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Review from Alex S.
1/26/2012 3 Check-ins Here
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a gem of Cincinnati. It literally and honestly has something for everyone. History buffs, lovers of Cincinnati, people wanting to learn more about an awful period in our past (and how to never let it happen again) and people who just want to be fascinated for a few hours. This is where to go.
There are three fours at the NURFC, each with it's own exhibits, videos, multimedia and more. The top floor has the rotating special exhibit as well as one about what it was like for slaves to first come to America. The next two floors have things like the giant theatre, which has movies that change from time to time and even exhibits that bring issues out in the present, like on modern day slavery.
It's a somber museum but a fascinating one for sure. There are series after series of artifacts from our past that make you stop and go, "wow."
For so much to do, it was the price that really surprised me (which is what gets it the fantastic 5th star.) It's only $12 to do everything here and that includes an audio tour to walk around with.
Cincinnati has so much history to it that people don't know about that it's wonderful there's a spot that's chronicling it all in such an open, approachable manner. -
Review from Tom M.
Chicago, IL
1/8/2012
Must see!
Pace yourself - there is a lot of detail here! -
Review from Mike M.
12/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
so inspiring. be prepared to cry.
don't know how important cincinnati is to the abolitionist movement? then go TODAY.
kt m. and i's wedding recpetion will be here as well. a review on that will be forthcoming on sept 2nd, 2012.
thank you for being here, NURFC. and many thanks to the fallen abolitionists and slaves who fought for freedom. you inspire me. -
Review from Paige M.
10/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
I've heard many things about the Freedom Center, ranging from "Visit it once and you've seen it all." to "It's an amazing staple of Cincinnati!" My opinion is right in the middle.
Gracing the skyline next to the ball stadium, you'll find the entrance to the Freedom Center on the river side of the structure; not facing Second Street like you'd expect. The inside features vast, modern architecture with gigantic windows overlooking Downtown and the Riverfront. A spiral staircase is the focal point for getting from level to level.
I recommend two things when visiting the Freedom Center:
1.) Get an audio tour and bring headphones. It's on an iPod, but you'll be a distraction if you walk around listening to it on speaker.
2.) Start on the third floor and work your way down.
The third floor is home to the special rotating exhibit, as well the From Slavery to Freedom exhibit, which is the most extensive in the museum. It thoroughly discusses when slaves first arrived in America to becoming free after the Civil War. (Currently, the rotating exhibit discusses slaves and the Civil War, but I felt the permanent exhibit did a better job of showing the details.) You'll find lots of visuals here to compliment the text.
There is also an exhibit about modern day slavery and trafficking, some of which still exists in The States. This is also a must-see. We've all heard the stories Civil War slavery, but little is known about modern day captivity. Definitely check this out.
On the second floor are some of the well-known visuals of the Freedom Center:
- The Slave Pen: a 177 year old building where slaves were kept captive in Northern Kentucky.
- The giant quilt
- Escape!: an exhibit about slaves fighting for freedom from 1830 - 1865
- Brothers of the Borderland: a re-enactment film narrated by Oprah about slaves fleeing for freedom from Kentucky to Ohio.
It took me about two hours to explore the Freedom Center. There were lots of panels of text, some of which were redundant, others which were too small to read. I was more impressed with the third floor than the second. The Oprah movie was interesting, although a bit lengthy. It was a 30-minute film, so you may need to skip it if you're on a short schedule. One could easily spend a half day here to get a thorough look at everything.
Price per person: $12.00
Parking $8.00
Viewing Time: 2 - 4 hoursListed in: Museum Nation
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Review from Karen B.
Cincinnati, OH
9/20/2011
I didn't know what to expect when I entered the museum but having not been in a museum of this sort in almost 10 years, I was excited to see what was in store. From the outside you can see that it's a huge building sitting on the shore of the Ohio River but inside, the museum is only on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
It's $12 for an adult to enter which includes an audio tour if you want one. I much prefer to just walk around and read and look at what I want to so I didn't take the audio headsets. I was told to start on the 2nd floor and move on to the 3rd floor ... not sure why but I did it.
The 2nd floor has a big theater which I didn't go into because the show had already started. Among movie art work, a giant collage of history and a life sized slave barrick (is that the word?), there were many moving and eye opening exhibits. So many things I hadn't thought about since I was in school learning about American History.
The 3rd floor had more hands on exhibits which my date and I enjoyed. On the same token I was still moved by the things I had forgotten actually happened in American history and by things that I didn't know happened. It was a great learning experience. Definitely a must see in Cincy! -
Review from Ericka lina J.
San Gabriel Valley, CA
3/23/2011
I've been to my fair share of museums, but have never been moved like I was at The Freedom Center.
Being that I have my undergrad degree in History, I couldn't wait to come here.
First off, this is a beautiful museum right on the river. It was a little confusing for me to get too, but then again I'm from out of town. The placement of the museum I'm hoping was not just coincidental. This museums premise is based on the history of the Underground Railroad. Thousands of slaves crossed the Ohio River into the north in their quest to obtain freedom.
You definitely need a whole day here. If you want to make it through all three floors, plan to be here from open to close. Each exhibit is jam packed with so much information, and I personally feel that not one exhibit can be missed.
The exhibits are all extremely well done. You can tell that so much thought and preparation went into this museum. Even having studied things like the Underground Railroad, nothing can compare to the all the interactive media that you can experience here. At times I found myself crying (I am easily moved by human rights issues and tend to take them on personally).
Two exhibits stand out in my mind. The first being the slave pen. When I stepped inside I literally felt this sense of sadness. To know that slaves were imprisoned in this exact structure, mistreated, confused, helpless, powerless.... this is such an overwhelming feeling.
The second, which I can't remember the name of is an interactive exhibit in which you feel like you are sitting out on the river with slaves trying to cross the river. You literally feel like you are there with them in the moment. I had chills all over my body and cried through this exhibit.
I learned so much about the not only the nation's history, but also history relative to the area my mother grew up in. I was really able to understand more comprehensively some of the experiences my mom has shared with me about growing up in Indiana/Ohio. History not only affects the past but also the present.
What I really liked about FC is the fact that not only does the museum focus on the Underground Railroad, but human struggles for freedom and justice TODAY. Yes, TODAY. There are still so many injustices occurring in the present, here in our own country and all over the world. I left this museum feeling like I wanted to get involved with something, anything to contribute to justice. -
Review from Greg D.
College Station, TX
8/17/2011 11 photos
Kentucky was a slavery state and Ohio was not. Many Americans escaped that era right here. This museum has the very bus seat that Rosa Parks sat upon.
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Review from Kat T.
Chicago, IL
4/25/2011
What an experience!
It's really genius using iTouches for an at your pace audio tour of each exhibit in the museum. Make sure to bring earphones, as it is extremely distracting to be next to others listening to the same audio at different intervals.
Great exhibits! Great theater shows! Greatly organized information and audio history!
I've never experienced anything like this and my children were fascinated and touched by it all, especially the modern day slavery exhibit. It's disturbing and you can't help but feel that you need to do something about it.
If I lived in Cincinnati, I would visit often, just so I can take my time with all they have to see there.
This is a must see sight for anyone visiting from out of town! -
Review from Emily H.
2/5/2011
I just finished previewing the new iPod tour at the Freedom Center and it was fantastic! (I think the official launch is scheduled for 1-2 weeks from now). I have to say, I am not a huge museum buff, partly because I don't have the attention span to read all the signs that give you the best information. Well, the iPod tour changes all that! It increased the interactivity of the exhibits which helps people like me with short attention spans. The tour provides enriching detail where you want it and allows you to skip over the parts you're not as interested in.
The best part about the tour is it really ties together all of the exhibits included. The Center is based on commemorating the Underground Railroad but it chronicles the fight for justice to the present day through the civil war, civil rights and modern day slavery. It also has a piece of the Berlin Wall which is pretty cool.
I am a big activist in the fight against modern day slavery and their Invisible exhibit on this topic is definitely first rate. You can read a full review of that exhibit here: http://www.stoptraffic...
The cafe was also just taken over by Taste of Belgium which is a big improvement and I'm looking forward to what additional changes they will make to the cafe. -
Review from Jessica K.
Cincinnati, OH
3/24/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I'm a science/technology museum junkie, so the fact that I visited and would like to return to a history museum is totally unexpected.
I'd lived in the area for over a year before visiting the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, only going because of some out-of-town guests who were visiting for a few days whom I knew would enjoy it. I planned our day expecting to only spend an hour there. Oh, I was so, so wrong!
We partook in the audio tour (though I honestly wasn't paying too much attention to it; just reading and looking at the displays and exhibits were awesome enough for me) and spent probably an hour just on the first main floor (the 2nd floor of the center). We did the Oprah-narrated presentation, as well, which was pretty good though I wasn't sure what to take away from it. Knowing our meter was going to expire soon, we kind of rushed through the next floor despite the fact that we really wanted to see more!
We completely ran out of time and didn't get to see the "Salvery Today" exhibit, but I do plan on returning so I can take the time to look at everything I missed!
Good job, Freedom Center; you got a science nerd to enjoy history for an afternoon... no small feat! -
Review from Stephanie S.
Cincinnati, OH
2/24/2011
This place doesn't have exhibits, it has experiences.
I had the privilege of walking around the NURFC with a couple museum buffs. One of them works in marketing for the Freedom center. It was very neat to get some 'inside' stories. They have a slave cabin that was found fully intact in Maysville, KY. Truly a fascinating story, ask one of the museum workers if they'll tell you about Peggy.
I was gripped by the modern slavery 'exhibit'. Again, it wasn't something you just went to look at. It was something you experienced. I was very moved by the information, personal stories, and the art. It's obvious that the people that put these exhibits together have great passion for this subject matter.
The only reason why I'm giving this place 4 stars instead of 5 is the experience in the cafeteria. I've heard that it's better since Taste of Belgium took over, but I did not see it. Granted, we were there early, right when it opened, but they were seriously unprepared for customers. The person I was with tried to order a crepe and was told that they weren't ready for that yet. There was a blackboard menu up, but the staff didn't seem to know what they had that day or what was available at all. I settled on some items from the cold case, a sandwich that tasted terrible. If I go back and have a better experience, I'd be happy to eat my words (and maybe a waffle).
Going to the Freedom Center is not the most 'uplifting' way to spend the day. But it tells the truth. It opens your eyes and gets you to think about things outside your world. Everyone should experience this place at least once. -
Review from Angela C.
12/13/2010 2 Check-ins Here
The Freedom Center was ahead of the slow Cincinnati development curve to station itself right by the river in front of the suspension bridge. The husband and I had been meaning to get there and finally wandered over to the gift shop to do some Christmas shopping on a free weekend afternoon. I had been there previously for a few events and enjoyed the beautiful building. It's a great place for a wedding or other event with space for a reception or auditoriums for conferences (you should see the balcony/upstair patio with the Freedom flame).
The gift shop has a great amount of fair trade gifts and books at really decent prices. We ended up getting a membership, which means you can go and see everything for a very reasonable price, for a year PLUS 10% off at the gift shop and cafe.
I love the Freedom Center for the subjects it tackles and the elegant building. I am withholding the 5th star because I think it can be even more than it is. The Northstar Cafe is basically a cafeteria style dining area with cafeteria style food. With the newly developed banks project, I hope there are plans to make it in to a real coffee shop/cafe, since it has the prime location to showcase the view of the river and suspension bridge.
The only real negative in my experience at the museum so far is seeing a gaggle of volunteers that did not seem to serve much of a purpose (nor could many of them provide answers...). But even as I'm thinking about that, if they are students getting volunteer hours, I am glad they are at the museum because inevitably they will be better educated about these issues!
Exhibit-wise, I don't know if I've spent quite enough concentrated time at the Freedom Center, but they made a great effort to make the exhibits interactive and visually impactful. All their exhibits are very thought-provoking. Perhaps in addition to their existing activities they could create an ongoing film series? -
Review from Liz H.
Austin, TX
10/25/2010
I was in Cincinatti for a wedding this past weekend and was looking for something interesting to see on a Saturday afternoon. I found the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center on Trip Advisor and it was even better than I expected.
The museum is beautiful, the exhibits are well done, and the tour guides (at least the one I had) are engaging and tell great stories. The museum is slightly mis-named though: its really a museum that tells the story of slavery - the underground railroad is one piece of that story but not the whole thing by any means.
The highlight of the museum is the only original "slave pen" which was restored and reassembled in the museum. Its moving, sad, and incredible to get to experience first hand what slaves went through. -
Review from Leisa W.
8/7/2010
What are you waiting for? If you are going to be nearby and have a couple free hours, you should absolutely visit. If you live anywhere near Cincinnati and haven't been to this museum, you should be ashamed. Actually, if you live around here and aren't a MEMBER, you are really missing out!
I just moved here and I can't believe the folks who have lived here for years and have never been to this gem! It is incredibly well-done, with permanent and temporary exhibits, and it is the repository for some very important history, not only of our nation but of this area in particular.
There is so much here, we spent almost 3 hours and didn't see it all. This is why, if you are local, I recommend getting a membership...then you can take in a floor or exhibit at a time, and not feel like you have to rush through or skip things. Then come back a couple weeks later and visit another floor. I think we paid about $55 for a couple for the year--which is a fantastic price, and honestly I'd pay that as a donation to the museum, even if I never visited, just to keep it open for other folks. It's that important.
A highlight for me was the "Borderland" film...Oprah does an intro for it, and then you move into another theater with trees and surround sound, that actually makes you feel like you are sitting out in the woods by the lake with the runaway slaves. Very powerful.
The other highlight for me was the entire experience. If I'm going nutshell, it's kind of like this: "Wow, that is so awful...I can't believe humans could regard another human as property...how horrible it must have been to be a slave...I wish I could have been alive then, I would have loved to be part of the underground railroad, I would have helped...man, I'm so glad that's all over and slavery doesn't exist anymore!"
And then...
"Oh. It does. It STILL exists. In India, in other developing countries, even in the US. In OHIO, for crying out loud." And that's what puts this museum over the top for me. Not only does it tell so many stories of our past, it is committed to showing that these atrocities still exist today, and inspiring people to get involved for change.
Seriously--you should go.Listed in: Why I live in OTR, Cincy Arts & Culture
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Review from Stephanie L.
Indianapolis, IN
7/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
Wow, this place is big, and there are words EVERYWHERE! All of the exhibits are rich with information, and everything is so interactive. You can touch, explore and discover the information for yourself. There is mixed media used to create the experience, with lots of video and audio to accompany the signage. I absolutely loved the Slavery Today exhibit, so creative, captivating and inspiring. The complimentary audio guides are a huge plus (although I regrettably didn't get a guide since I was crunched for time). This place has so much to read and explore, it's definitely worth several visits!
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Review from Angela B.
West Chester, OH
5/14/2008
In 2004, the opening of the Freedom Center on the downtown riverbank shed some much-needed positive light on Cincinnati in terms of appreciating and celebrating diversity. The Freedom Center traces the history of, what else, Freedom, in the United States and around the world. While the main focus of the museum is on the history of slavery, exhibits dedicated to other times and places where freedom has been or is being compromised are featured as well.
We visited the Freedom Center with a free waiver that one of my professors had received to pass to his students. Normally, the cost of admission is $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and $8 for children. We went on a Wednesday afternoon, the center was almost empty.
Upon entering, we were handed automated walking tour devices to help us guide our own tour of the museum. The devices had headphones and we were instructed to turn them on as soon as we rode the elevator up into the museum. We don't particularly like to follow directions so we left our devices off until we got to the first exhibit, the Slave Pen. Each exhibit in the museum has a number that corresponds to it that visitors can enter into their walking tour machines and learn more about it. I particularly liked this feature while exploring the Slave Pen, as the somber nature of the exhibit would have been compromised by a tour guide trying to yell above a group.
The Freedom Center is heavily reliant on audio-visual exhibits. We watched "Brothers of the Borderland," which was a short film set in a theatre that engages the audience by use of special sound and visual affects (fog actually surrounds the audience when it shows up on screen, surround sound makes chase scenes intense). Each film at the Freedom Center is historical but interesting enough to keep even young children engaged in learning about the past.
There are two different exhibits that visitors can walk through and get a sense of the history of the slave trade in the United States, one is sponsored by Oprah Winfrey and gives the visitors a sense of how slaves were forced to live.
"The Struggle Continues" is the exhibit that I found the most informative and the most disturbing and distressing at the same time. This exhibit features lines of flat screen televisions that depict images of the various ways that freedom is being compromised in our world today. They show images of those facing hunger, genocide, and discrimination in many forms. Some of the images are truly disconcerting; I wouldn't recommend taking young children into this room.
We didn't stop to eat at the North Star Caf as we were leaving the center at 4pm and the restaurant had closed at 3pm. -
Review from Stephanie H.
Calabasas, CA
10/20/2009
Cincinnati is worth a visit just for the Center in my view. We were passing through Cincinnati as a stopover to Nashville and our hotel recommended the Center. We were pleasantly surprised.
I think the Center does a good job of presenting the issues with interesting media presentations as well as firsthand accounts. I enjoyed that the Center also presented other groups who have been slighted in history such as Native Americans and women.
We only had 1 1/2 hours at the Center which was not nearly enough time. I'd recommend three hours at least. If I am ever back in Cincinnati, the Center is def. going to be my first stop! -
Review from Joanna B.
Oakland, CA
9/2/2007
This is an excellent place to teach children & adults alike about African American history. Why? The title should explain completely, and if not you need to visit.
This museum is located where a lot of the history it celebrates occurred. There are guided tours, audio self tours, interactive adventures & a documentary hosted by Oprah. The expansive windows showcase some of the historic sites cited in the exhibits.
There are replicas and authentic documents from the era. It has an incredible gift shop/ bookstore and a small eatery at the bottom.Listed in: Culture Vultures
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Review from Daniel T.
Denver, CO
11/27/2007
Don't get me wrong, the information that is presented is really great (I learned a lot myself). That said, the design of this museum is miserable; there is no other way to put it. The exhibits are meant to be taken in order (there is a time line to follow) but layout is confusing such that you end up "lost" most of the time, unsure about what you've seen and what you haven't. The information is also hard to absorb when you go from reading about 1810 to 1790 to 1830 leaving you with no sense of the time line. My other big problem with the design was the majority of the exhibits themselves. They're printed on raised blocks in a type of collage, but they put multiple blocks of text in the same area that run together and sort of criss cross. This is further enhanced by some sections be pushed out farther than others creating weird shadows over all the content.
The Oprah hosted documentary / re-enactment was kind of cool, but overall the design and layout made it really hard to take away much of the information which was disappointing. -
Review from Crystal S.
Springfield, VA
5/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
It's in the best place for historical facts of the slave escape to freedom. Very well put together and more information then you can absorb in one day.
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Review from Michael R.
Cincinnati, OH
1/19/2010
Having moved to Cincinnati in July 2009, I had not had an opportunity to visit the Freedom Center until this morning. That was when I experienced the "Without Sanctuary - Lynching in America" exhibit.
I deliberately said I *experienced* the exhibit instead of viewing it because it made quite an impact on me. The exhibit was a walk-through of photographs, postcards, and materials from throughout the Lynching Era. To say it was compelling would be a massive understatement. Over and over again, I was given a chance to bear witness and understand how awful and massively prevalent lynchings were. The message was clear: it didn't just happen in the South, it wasn't a few isolated nutters, it wasn't just men, and it wasn't just African-Americans.
Something I thought was very interesting was the fact that the exhibit is self-guiding. This means that you experience it at your own pace without a tour guide like you would at other museums. Given the horrific images and words, I felt this was the right choice for the NURFC to make. They let the images and words speak for themselves.
At the end, visitors are given a chance to process what they've seen and express themselves through art, video, and dialogue. I recorded a video testimonial, which can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com....
The exhibit runs through May 31, 2010 and I totally recommend you go if you live in or are visiting Cincinnati. More info here: http://www.freedomcent...
Disclosure: I was invited to attend a sneak preview of the event by members of the Center's communications team. This is my own opinion.
One more thing...
A colleague of mine in Cincinnati's marketing community who also attended today's sneak peek wrote a review on her blog. Her eloquence is beautiful, articulate, and moving, so I had to share: http://girlfriendology... -
Review from Nanette S.
Cambridge, MA
6/30/2009
I'm used to cultural museums that have, maybe, four things worth looking at -- not so here! I spent 4 hours here and felt that I could have spent another 2 hours. The special exhibit on the Memphis bus strike was great (not permanent, so check if you go) and the artifacts in the permanent collection were really thought-provoking. There's even an interpretive kid's "what would you do?" series through a lot of the museum that tells kids what would happen if they do a) or b) or c) as you escape on the Underground railroad.
The one criticism I have is on the beautiful but somewhat empty film on current day slavery. It wasn't very specific and if you didn't know the cultural icons on the screen (e.g. Nelson Mandela) you wouldn't learn much. This is in contrast to most of the other exhibits which explained things you might have heard about (e.g. legalizing inherited slavery only on the mother's side, therefore the willingness of male slave owners to sell their own children)
I'm pretty cynical about these things and I learned a lot. There's also a teacher's discount. -
Review from Cathy R.
7/19/2008
Highly recommend this museum! Very professionally presented and arranged. We liked the audio self tour and found it very easy to use.
As other reviewers have mentioned, it can be confusing at times as to which exhibit is next. And the shifts in time periods from one exhibit to another is also a bit confusing, too.
Overall, however, worth the ticket price easily. If you're a AAA member, be sure to ask for the discount. The center contains a cafe, which can get quite crowded due to tour groups, and there is an underground parking garage. -
Review from Dan J.
College Hill, OH
10/25/2008
The Freedom Center is a great museum with some flawed execution. I should qualify that because once you step inside you'll see that the museum is of the highest quality and is extremely professional. Unfortunately several factors have played into not succeeding like it should have.
It's location is bad in two ways. The area of town is hard to get to. The stadiums are able to draw crowds because people love organized sports. Unfortunately a museum doesn't have the same draw. Also, Cincinnati isn't a big tourist city and while it was a good choice for historical reasons the Queen city is not exactly a prime vacation destination. Also, the layout is, as has been mentioned time and time again, slightly confusing, but the ability to go in whatever order you like may play into the freedom theme.
There is plenty of great things about the museum itself, though. There are several well done movies, great exhibits and of course a cafe if you are looking for something to eat. Parking can be a hassle because of how that part of town is setup but there are several garages closer to downtown that work just fine and require only a short walk. -
Review from scott p.
San Diego, CA
9/24/2007 1 photo
Memo to National Underground Railroad Freedom Center: Real museums either stay open till 6 PM or at least will sell you a ticket past 4 PM. So we didn't go. Even though we were there at 4:10 PM and prepared to leave at 5 PM. Bummer.
Listed in: Trip to Ohio/Kentucky
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Review from Nick C.
7/11/2010
If you live within a couple hour drive of Cincinnati or are passing through the area, be sure to stop here. The story is very well told in an unbiased format. I learned a lot throughout the museum. There is a slave pen that was actually in use at one point in time. Very chilling to stand inside that and imagine the people that were packed in there, shackled, day after day. We spent a solid afternoon here.
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Review from Martha L.
Austin, TX
8/19/2009
This museum is worth seeing! I am surprised I haven't heard more about it since moving to Cincinnati. The building itself is modern and beautiful sitting next to the Great American Ballpark and Roebling Bridge. I went on a guided tour and the tour guide was excellent. He highlighted important points all throughout the history of slavery and the underground railroad. I enjoyed his overview and fully intend to go back and read through the exhibits in more detail. Oprah's movie was interesting as it explained why the border of KY and OH on the Ohio river was so important to the underground railroad. Definitely worth a visit and Cincinnati should be proud to have this landmark!
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Review from Dawn G.
Austin, TX
11/18/2008
We learned a lot about slavery including the very sad fact that in 1830, there were 12 million people in the U.S. of which more than 1/3 were slaves. I would imagine that this fact contributed to the rise of many superbly elegant and grandiose homes in Cincinnati.
We spent three hours in the museum, and would have stayed longer but for trying to reach the American Sign Museum (rated here) before closing.
I liked that the museum included audio phones that allowed you to choose the exhibits you wanted to hear about leaving you to read others. The audio is not distracting due to the low volume. As a finishing touch, they have a great gift shop with hundreds of books to choose from for all ages.
Unlike other Yelpers here, I did not find the layout confusing, and I felt the location was wonderful along the river. The free parking outside the door was a definite plus.
We had only one complaint: sometimes the audio portions of various exhibits interfered with my ability to read the text on others. -
Review from Todd R.
3/31/2010
To visit this museum is to understand how we have come to where we are now. How we have treated each other as human beings over the course of history is paramount to understanding our continuing struggles today as a society, nation and planet. It is all of our responsibility to learn, teach, and pass on our history to everyone and every generation so that freedom and liberty may reign supreme. It is when we forget history and we allow the fringe of the society to become too loud do we endanger ourselves of forgetting our purpose on this planet is to ensure that we leave this place a better place than when we got here. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is that kind of place that will make this planet better for its existence. Visit this wonderful center of history, preservation, art, and media and you will never be the same. And that, is a good thing. What you choose to do now that you have decided to or have already visited is up to you and your conscious.
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Review from N L.
San Antonio, TX
6/8/2009
def worth a visit if you're in the cincy area. i probably read the equivalent of a book during my visit, i learned so much! the audio tour is interesting and educational. i would agree that the museum is a little hard to follow. pretty sure i didn't see things in the correct order but that didn't impede much on my experience. the exhibits were nicely done and presented in different mediums (several movies, songs, books to flip through, etc.) def stop by the gift shop and check out the great selection of books.
