26th Annual conference on Black History in Pennsylvania, May 1-3, 2003,
University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania
[The following information is taken from the PHMC web
site.]
The Conference on Black History in Pennsylvania is an annual event
sponsored by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission and other
local and state organizations. It focuses on different aspects of
Pennsylvania's African American heritage, and during its first twenty-five
years, has played host to prominent public figures, scholars, educators,
artists, and others who have together addressed a broad range of important
and relevant issues. The Conference seeks to bridge the gap between history
professionals and the public by building a spirit of cooperation among
university-based scholars, teachers at all levels, students, local
community leaders, historic preservationists, historic site and museum
professionals, the business community, government officials, tourism
promoters, local historians, and anyone else interested in the state's
cultural heritage. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum
Commission, the University of Scranton, the Lackawanna Historical Society,
Scranton Tomorrow, the Pennsylvania Federation of Historical Organizations,
the Pennsylvania Historical Association, and the Middle Atlantic American
Studies Association.
For more information contact: Karen James, [email protected]
or call
(717) 783-9871.
Programs specifically on the URR include "The Underground Railroad
Folktales and Heritage Stories," chaired by Frances Punch-Ikiugu, and
presentations by Bonelyn Kyofsky and Jannis Floyd; "The Underground
Railroad in Northeastern Pennsylvania," chaired by Sherman Wooden, with
presentations by Sandra Burgett Miller and Thomas Wooden; and "The
Underground Railroad Statewide, chaired by Tara Morrison, with
presentations by Jackie Wiggins and Charles Kennedy.
At the Albany Underground Railroad Conference, Judy Wellman reminded the
audience about the usefulness of going to the census records and
locating African-American communities. In looking at Chester County,
Pennsylvania, I had impressionistically noted the existence of
African-American churches in some sections of the county noted for
Underground Railroad activity, but have never more than glanced at the
census to check the relative size of the African-American population. In
1860, Pennsylvania as a whole was 2% African American, but that population
was very unevenly divided. Philadelphia had a large African-American
population in terms of numbers (22,185) but that figure represented just
under 4% of the total population. The largest proportional
African-American population in Philadelphia was in the 5th Ward, 21% of the
population.
Okay, since the evidence suggests that many of the fugitives traveling
through Chester County were headed for Philadelphia, at least as an
immediate if not permanent destination, I had been making an assumption
that Philadelphia had not only the largest numbers of African-Americans but
the largest proportion. Calculating the census figures for Chester and
other localities in Pennsylvania provides a different picture. Rural
Pocopsin Township in Chester County had 181 African American residents, but
that figure represented over 29% of the inhabitants. West Goshen was almost
27% African American. The next highest proportion of African-Americans in
Philadelphia was the 7th ward, with 11.6% African-American. Sixteen rural
townships in Chester County, had African-American populations in excess of
that figure. Taken as a whole, the proportion of African-Americans in
Philadelphia was 3.9% of the total population, while Chester County was
7.9%, twice that of Philadelphia and almost four times the that of the
state of Pennsylvania.
The proportion of African-Americans in the rural townships of Chester
County was very unevenly divided, ranging from a low of 0.1% to the high of
29.3% Those townships in the south-eastern part of the county had the
highest concentrations of African-Americans were also many of the townships
with the highest reported involvement with the Underground Railroad.
Christopher Densmore, April 17, 2003
Friends Historical Library
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