Nick Gunner, Social Media manager in the Department of Marketing and Communications, received the 2015 Hortense Simmons Prize for the Advancement of Underground Railroad Knowledge from the Underground Railroad Free Press in its eighth year of awarding the prizes.
In its newsletter, the Underground Railroad Free Press noted that Mr. Gunner is recognized for the pro bono development of an extensive online Underground Railroad map of safe-houses, routes and people in western New York. The project involving over 300 sites is hosted by orbitist.com owned by Gunner Media, founded by Gunner when he was still an undergraduate at Fredonia. The project was initiated by Gunner following a presentation by former Free Press prize recipient Wendy Woodbury Straight, also a Fredonia alumna and Underground Railroad researcher.
