Iowa is not usually the place that comes to mind when people think about the Underground Railroad.

Most people think of southern states as places where slaves stopped on their escape to freedom. But Sharon Carrington, graduate research assistant at University of Iowa, spoke about five Iowa locations when she gave a presentation Friday on the Underground Railroad in the state.

“I wanted people in the Midwest to know they don’t have to go south to learn about or to see the Underground Railroad,” Carrington said. “We have a plethora of information here.”

Her discussion, “Hidden in Plain View,” was part of her professional master’s program at the U of I. In it, Carrington discussed the five Underground Railroad sites in Iowa that have been certified by the National Park Service. She said even though there were more than 100 stations in Iowa, it is difficult to find the documentation the National Park Service requires.

“They use the same guidelines as they do for Historic Homes, which have lots of documentation,” Carrington said. “But the Underground Railroad was illegal. Why would you document something that could be used against you?”

Homes in Tabor, Lewis, West Des Moines, Salem and Keosauqua were built with the intention of being part of the Underground Railroad and hiding slaves.

“It’s phenomenal – some of the things you see, some of the places people hid,” she said.

Some hiding places were often as small as a two-by-four-foot area. “If you’re being sheltered on your way to freedom, you’re not going to complain about your quarters,” Carrington said.

Carrington also said there is a misconception that because Iowa was a free state, there were no slaves in it.

“It was often disputed, just as it was in Kansas . there were people in southern portions of Iowa that had slaves,” Carrington said. “You really have to dig to find it – there’s not much documentation, and not many want to talk about it.”

Barbara Negri, secretary in the Families Extension Office, said she “learned a lot in just an hour.”

“I was surprised by the number of towns and homes in those towns that were part, and I was surprised by the religions taking part,” Negri said.