On Sept. 11, 1851, Maryland slave-owner Edward Gorsuch arrived at the farm of William Parker in search of an enslaved person that Parker was hiding. Armed neighbors rushed to the scene and in the ensuing fight against the slave catchers Edward Gorsuch was killed. Thirty-eight men, mostly African American, were arrested, but after the first […]
The African American Experience: Black History of Scranton
In the 1850 census four African Americans were documented as residents Scranton, today the community has about 5,000 residents. Over the years African Americans have made important contributions to the city in business, culture, and politics. In this episode of the African American Experience, we talk with Black Scranton Project founder Glynis Johns about the […]
The African American Experience: The Great Migration and Pittsburgh
This week on The African American Experience, Samuel Black, the director of African American Programs at the Heinz History Center, joins us to talk about how the Great Migration influenced Pittsburgh. During the Great Migration more than 6 million African Americans moved from the South to the North and West with many thousands settling in […]
The African American Experience: The Pittsburgh Courier
Founded in 1907, The Pittsburgh Courier would rise to become one of the most important African American newspapers in the country. Under the leadership of Robert L. Vann, the paper covered politics, sports, business, the Civil Rights Movement, and international affairs in the 1930s. During World War II, it championed the “Double V” campaign to […]
The African American Experience: William Chester Ruth, Inventor
William Chester Ruth was born in 1882 and was an African American inventor, blacksmith, entrepreneur, and lay minister in Gap, PA. By the 1950s he had been granted more than 50 patents for inventions such as a baler feeder, a cinder spreader, and a farm elevator. In this episode of the African American Experience we […]
The African American Experience: The Dennis Farm
In 1793, the family of Prince Perkins, free African Americans from Connecticut, settled on a farm in northeast Pennsylvania. The farm has remained in the family into the 21st century and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In this episode of The African American Experience, we talk with Denise Dennis, President & CEO […]
African American Experience: Camp William Penn and the U.S. Colored Troops
In 1863 when the Union Army began accepting African American men, Camp William Penn was established outside Philadelphia to train them. During the course of the war more than 10,500 soldiers comprising 11 infantry regiments were trained at the camp before leaving for battle. Camp William Penn soldiers fought in many battles, won Medals of […]
The William C. Goodridge Freedom Center & Underground Railroad Museum
William Goodridge was born in Baltimore to an enslaved mother and a white man. He was not allowed to be legally sold as a slave and was instead indentured to a tanner in York, PA. He was freed at 16 and went on to become a barber. Goodridge would later become a very successful businessman […]
African Americans in the Civilian Conservation Corps
During the Great Depression in 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps was created to provide jobs to young, unemployed, single men. The CCC planted trees, built roads and dams, developed state parks, and fought forest fires. Joining us to talk about African Americans in the Civilian Conservation Corps in Pennsylvania are Paul Fagley, an Environmental Education […]
“Slavery in South Central Pennsylvania”
As British settlers moved into Pennsylvania’s south central region in the early 1700s, they brought enslaved people with them. As slavery was dying out in the eastern part of the state it would continue to thrive in what is now Cumberland, Adams, Franklin, and York counties. In this episode of The African American Experience, we […]