What began as a high school mentoring project more than a decade ago culminated in a national honor, as Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines was added to the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom.

The designation, celebrated during an Oct. 25 ceremony, featured the unveiling of a commemorative marker that recognizes the final resting place of 15 Underground Railroad freedom seekers and operatives.

Iowa State Representative Rob Johnson opened the ceremony with a prayer, calling the cemetery a sacred ground.

“Lord, we thank you for every man, every woman and every child who dared to believe that freedom was worth the risk that hope was worth holding on to,” Johnson said.

In 2020, the West Des Moines Historical Society took over research on the site from the Forever Free Pilot Mentoring P

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