A Public Affairs graduate student in the School of Planning & Public Affairs will partner with the City of West Branch and other community stakeholders on an initiative to uplift the story of Traveler's Rest and West Branch's role in the underground railroad. 

Traveler's Rest was an inn where abolitionist John Brown stayed when passing through West Branch in 1856. The inn may have also been a stop on the underground railroad. The physical structure of Traveler's Rest is now a private home in West Branch. Preservation Iowa designated Traveler's Rest as one of two 2025 Most Endangered Properties in the state of Iowa. The City of West Branch hopes to preserve Traveler's Rest given its significant historic value. 

The project will focus on two objectives related to Traveler's Rest. The first is to identify resources and processes to preserve the physical structure of Traveler's Rest for future generations. The second objective is to uplift the history of West Branch's role in the underground railroad through the story of Traveler's Rest. The graduate student will utilize archival and public records research as well as oral history methods to document the story of Traveler's Rest.

Deliverables may include recommendations to the City for strategies for preserving Traveler's Rest including a documentation of the current status of the building, recommended processes for succession planning, funding opportunities for historically significant buildings, and materials for increasing public awareness about the history of the site.