The American $1 Innovation Coin, representing Ohio, is dedicated to the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a loose and decentralized network of individuals, families, friends, and churches that secretly helped enslaved African Americans escape to freedom. The National Park Service recognizes more than a dozen trails through Ohio that are memorials to people who escaped slavery and those who helped them along the way.

Other states had active lines in the informal underground railroad network, but Ohio's role was critical. Ohio was the southernmost free state, bordering the northernmost slave states of Kentucky and (then) Virginia. Throughout the state there were about 3,000 miles of roads with shelters or "stations" that helped fugitives escape to freedom.

The obverse (head) depicts the Statue of Liberty in profile. The obverse also features a secret symbol of a stylized mechanism, symbolizing industry and innovation.

The reverse (tails) depicts two strong hands clasped together, with the top hand pulling the bottom hand upward, symbolizing the support and strength needed by both sides on the Underground Railroad. The chain attached to the rustic shackle around the wrist cracks and fragments, hinting at the hope of freedom.