New Philadelphia and the Freedom Corridor

NEW PHILADELPHIA WAS AN ABOLITIONIST VILLAGE established in 1836 by Frank and Lucy McWorter. It was the first town in the US founded, that is, platted and registered, by African Americans. In 2022 Congress and the president named it a national park. From its first days through to today, New Philadelphia has connected to the Freedom Corridor. This panel explores its meaning and its connections. The New Philadelphia Association has been led by people from Freedom Corridor cities. The town's archaeology is discussed and compared to the general area. Panelists representing state, regional, and national institutions will demonstrate that New Philadelphia is more than a town; it represents a freedom narrative shared by the entire nation.The Freedom Corridor project is exciting for us at Illinois College as we begin to plan for our bicentennial and reflect on our history and that of the surrounding region. On a personal note, as an Americanist focused on the nineteenth century, I am thrilled with the potential to focus so much scholarly energy on a pivotal period in the history and culture of the US.There are three interrelated and mutually reinforcing elements of the Freedom Corridor that hold tremendous potential for the college and for our region. In combination, they make this project a particularly powerful one for scholarly and pedagogical impact.First is the fact and necessity of partnerships. The very nature of the Corridor, including multiple communities and many small community organizations, requires us to work collaboratively. Illinois College situates itself as a college within a community and welcomes this opportunity to work in partnership. The college, like most of the organizations represented here, could not, on our own, carry out the research necessary to uncover the extraordinary history of the Freedom Corridor. This limitation is actually a benefit in that the outcome of a collaborative process will be so much more profound than anything that could be achieved by one organization. We are linked in a west central Illinois corridor, in different ways, to be sure, than two hundred years ago, but still meaningfully.The second critical element of the Freedom Corridor project at this particular moment is that there is a renewed focus nationwide on the historical period covered by the Freedom Corridor. Suddenly, there seems to be agreement that how we understand and interpret the history of slavery and the fight for freedom is crucial to our understanding of our overall history, and perhaps even to the meaning of the United States itself. Now, this recognition of importance is as far as agreement goes, needless to say. While stories of freedom-seeking, and as Dr. Brittany Yancy frames it, “freedom-dreaming,” would seem to be quintessentially American narratives, the meanings of history are always complicated and contested. Still, the relevance of this work is inescapable, and we therefore have the opportunity collectively to uncover and recover parts of history that are essential for telling our national story. The Freedom Corridor may be specific to rural Illinois, indeed even to the family history of the incredibly tenacious and courageous McWorters, but the implications of the stories embedded in the corridor have the potential to resonate nationally and even beyond.The third exciting element of the Freedom Corridor from an educator's perspective is the opportunity for undergraduate students to contribute meaningfully to the uncovering and recovering work. Already we have seen that incredible research opportunities for students can result in the creation of new knowledge. Recent graduate Emily Pursley's research is an exemplary instance of this potential. Strong pedagogical approaches invite students to be co-investigators of important phenomena, not passive recipients of information. Opportunities for undergraduates to co-create knowledge too often reside primarily in the sciences, where students can work side by side with faculty in the field or do bench research. Those experiences are wonderful, and we greatly appreciate the commitment of our faculty to providing them, but it is important to create similar opportunities for students in the humanities and social sciences. The Freedom Corridor presents an extraordinary opportunity for students to make tremendous contributions to a critically important intellectual project.The sharing of work during the Freedom Corridor conference is a profound opportunity for productive exchanges. Even more important, however, is planting seeds for future collaborations and investigations that hold great promise to produce future fruit. Many thanks to those whose hard work has created the concept and structure of the Freedom Corridor and who have brought such a variety of entities into productive conversation.A lot of you may not realize this, but Illinois College was actually supported by a man who also helped start the land-grant university, Jonathan Baldwin Turner. At Griggsville, Illinois, where I am from, there's a plaque in our Griggsville school gymnasium that tells us that the first speech to advocate for the land-grant university was given by Turner right there in Griggsville.I also wanted to say today that my good friend, the late Paul Findley, was one of the biggest supporters of New Philadelphia. I probably wouldn't be sitting here today if it were not for Paul Findley, who graduated from here. Of course, his congressional office museum is here on campus. If you walk through that building, see how many senators and members of congress have graduated from Illinois College.Freedom. Freedom means something a little bit different to all of us. You know, if you walk out of a prison, you've got freedom. Well, Frank McWorter and Lucy McWorter, when they crossed the Ohio River, they thought they had freedom. Did they have true freedom? I don't believe so.Because when he started in New Philadelphia, he had to get a European American to register that town. He had to get the surveyors to do that. He had freedom, but he did not have total freedom.His story has long been known in my local community. I live about twelve miles from New Philadelphia. My grandfather came from Kentucky. And you know, he had the kind of attitude that maybe a lot of white people did. That maybe those who had a little different color skin were not quite as good. But you know what he told his children, his grandchildren, like me? He said, treat everybody with respect. Everybody in this room knows something you don't know. And always remember that when you meet any individual. They know something you don't know, and that's something that may be beneficial to you someday.As you went by New Philadelphia when I was a child, there was a little sign put up out there. But at one point it got covered over with weeds. I had some of my African American friends come over, and I was embarrassed to take them out there. That's when I began to think, here's a story that needs to be better told.But for 150 years, we in Pike County have recognized the importance and the bravery it took to start New Philadelphia. Then as we were developing Interstate 72, I happened to be chairman of the civic group that worked with the governor to get I-72 developed. And we worked to make sure that I-72 didn't go through New Philadelphia.The late Judge Cecil Burroughs and others came to the governor, Jim Thompson, and said, let's put a rest stop, let's put a visitor center at New Philadelphia. I was sitting in Jim Thompson's office, the governor of Illinois's office. I was there with the late Tom Oakley, chairman of the Highway Committee and the biggest media mogul in the Midwest at the time, along with the Illinois secretary of transportation and the chief engineer for that department. As we sat in that office, we all agreed the New Philadelphia story needed to be told. New Philadelphia needed to be preserved.Well, the engineer said that to put a rest stop there would take several million dollars and delay the highway for two or three years. We said, we just had a doctor killed on the old highway. We don't want to delay it. Jim Thompson was right there, he said, we'll do it. But we said, no, let us come back and visit it.And that's when we started the New Philadelphia Association. It was when a group of us from the highway organization came back together that we went over to the University of Illinois and talked to Dr. Juliet Walker and told her what we were going to do.And I must say, the locals, the family, and everybody has been dedicated ever since to preserving New Philadelphia and telling the story of free Frank McWorter.We work with the family, with local people. And I want to say this. I have yet to this day, and Gerald, I hope you'll agree, I have not found one political leader or one civic leader who didn't agree with our preservation of New Philadelphia. Republican, Democrat, old, young, Black, white. Nobody disagreed with the importance of it. That's why we were able to get it done.I could go through here and talk about all the steps we went through, but I will talk about two or three things.When our board first organized, we had quite a little discussion. Like all boards, there are differences of opinion among people, but what were we going to do? Try to make it a county park? You know, my county could put a little money up. Make it a state park? Or make it a national park? You know, each level would be a little more difficult.The board ultimately agreed: It's a national site. It's of national significance. It was the first town nationally, not the first town in Pike County or Illinois, but the first town in the US to be registered, certified by the state of Illinois, by a Black man. So we decided to be a national park. And that was a big decision, because we knew it was going to be difficult.But once I talked to Senator Durbin—I've known him most of his political career, and of course I knew Paul Findley, and others—they all agreed. So I knew we had support there.Now, other decisions had to be made. What do you do? How do you develop the site? And all those questions. We actually sold part of the ground, 9.14 acres, to the Archaeological Conservancy. We were a little volunteer group, you know, not well financed, and not well educated in such matters. We thought selling would guarantee the principal part, the main part of the town into the future. So, we sold that to them, and they still own that part of the town. That was a big decision for us.We also started the augmented reality tours, which is really interesting.Then we had to make another decision. Senator Durbin was on this one. We could have had the president—President Obama would have done it—make a national monument. A national monument is a presidential directive. But the next president could have removed it. And it comes without we the decision, no, going to the going to be a national park. And we did. But it has been years in the I wanted to say We have got to the story of our If you don't at history, you will it. And we know there are in the we don't want to may be a back there we want to but most we don't want to So let's that New Philadelphia was to talk about the project at the of New Philadelphia, but because we are the Freedom Corridor, I also want to some contributions that archaeology has at along the entire Freedom Corridor in to New investigations at New Philadelphia from the for and were for the part of the national as Dr. Paul of one of the of the project would often Dr. of Illinois at Dr. of at and I were also was to the for the to the of and as a was to to recognition for New Philadelphia and its US Senator Durbin and Obama of for and has also to through social media as over the period and established by Paul at the University of and at the University of Illinois at of our field work and Dr. to a to providing that and The was also the of a with that is on the have also on the archaeology of New Philadelphia through and including a of of the for that was to several on New Philadelphia. The New Philadelphia Archaeological was also the of several stories in such as American Illinois and Illinois The project was also for more than undergraduate and graduate students through our field with most of students with archaeology at New Philadelphia. of that work in three on the that were at the University of Illinois at the University of and at was also for through the of a in which we for our archaeology field school students but was also for local community members to the field in the New Philadelphia Association the and as a community for years with on to New Philadelphia each during people are not with What is The or the of and culture through the of But archaeology is also a to about people of the who were not in can of people and communities and an for those archaeology is not a of people of a to and and new community We that people about or did not know, and this a focus of much of our work and a for us to about the overall of the New Philadelphia Archaeological was to our understanding of New and as a community. How would we do What would we of our the of the town in of the and of the people who We were in about all people who at the not just the McWorters, who had a the from the of New Philadelphia. What was the for the What were the and of the people who on the town of the or the of the we about local and national We can and through archaeology by such as and by where and of the New Philadelphia over a of years. We started with a in and by from through we out on of the total town all were and we from the and to us which to was not to but to just to demonstrate for the New Philadelphia site. If we a or we wanted to to us to its and its and when it was we were the potential as the for the and for on the of the that was the of was the of a by has also important contributions to the understanding of other along the freedom The Illinois with the on an of the lot in the during the of through and I out and one of our on that project was an Illinois College was an African American and an of He is in as with the and his in a small with and who was a of of and also in the was to if any of the structure the of two and on the our we were to the of a the and and this us the opportunity the of two as well as with the is another project in which was by the project by the of along the and by from to 2022 and was a of the of that were during the of and the of the Illinois and I also out an of the of in and at the of the Committee of the County We the of the that was by the family of which the that was in research at the in during and and his were in of the some in of the and an of most we recover and small often big an was found in and this that the has always been connected to the from the lot is a small from a that has part of the of which represents at a school for African American in during the and to in where they were in the has important contributions to our understanding of the history of the central Illinois Freedom Corridor and of the people who in many of the to just a great and great to be part of this you all for here. to and the McWorter family, and also and the entire board of the New Philadelphia Association. to know everybody over the in developing the new Philadelphia a little over a in with the and and the entire board and and right the was actually to create the We to everybody that that was the that was going to in with the the We out what was going to to say that just about where we be with the in for the to start on the site. We are some on the because such an important to talk about the stories the freedom narrative and how New Philadelphia into going to you a little bit of history of my in the and also going to just kind of that to New Philadelphia and a lot of the that have been said here today, and you all to focus on why is on the you a national our is to that the story of that a there in sure that the if we the all that national by presidential or by Congress a are from You are the people that are most important to the with those who create the through or New Philadelphia would have a if the New Philadelphia Association those on those and to of a national site. The create on our It has to be Congress or the president that actually tells us to do started to work for the in right out of school at in what at the was a I went on to work at the in That was actually created in by we the that created the we were really because right about the time, in the late were about the fact that all they ever talk about with to this national is the were was a more going on the that not about here, and a of people that not So that started in the right about the Congress the for the We the about not but also his That was the first time, in my we ever that didn't just to the It the family, which was because the was all about where they where they where he to and so it telling you this because it was That was not that long At that just going to the Midwest which is to the Ohio over to the than the old at the in and a of presidential like the other that was connected to freedom, in a was the in And that was created in the most the and in and get to a national at some all this up because the that go on from community to the that members of congress and senators from the local on up to the to the state, and to the to start to understand how important stories that actually the the of of that what here in the understanding of what they all and them to the us actually do our It the most important the general that to about the general that for members of congress and the general that tells members of congress and senators what is important to It that for to be a national or I for the How this into the stories the freedom that the is the of and that there are more and more actually on our history, and all very important for us to and take But I know that there's more out there, and I know that there are stories that are still not told that are They are not to our history but just for not what happened and sure that people understand what really have an opportunity with the of our that's up The is what we'll be to that. we for the of the the were very not going to have to have those I on the and the next years to actually just in as many people as we can the importance of all and the Freedom Corridor, well that we do that. So I to at New Philadelphia more I to a new there and I to part of this like to start by you to Illinois College and you to my We want to believe that by our we can work to a to Illinois and stories that the of research and for the and to be the of many that to the McWorter family, that they have in the The that most people see when they see the of Frank McWorter is in our back to the late nineteenth century, and most of them, if we were quite are to great white of the that to do at the museum is to make sure that are and that the museum is of all of the of all of the that to in our is more more to more came to the of New Philadelphia quite by over as of research at the museum as we were a And this was I And I was an of the historical and stories And as my began to research stories which we can we came the story of Frank McWorter, a story with so much and that we could not it out of the we talk about Frank McWorter, there are a of that we of he is a about that. had come from had his and in a so much knowledge of of that he is in of a by his the his I to say that It just my he that but he out an that he can do to money to his The that he also how much knowledge Frank McWorter must have He knows how to make those who don't have any what is, it is a in the of to take of a that's in the United the of That means for when we talk about he knows how to produce this very his in And he his first because had been in the United States in such a that that would a man African have from the from his where have to the him the the of for African the If was you were going to be McWorter knew this. This was the reality that he And he her Then got to to free But in her he that all of the that has from that point on will be are a of that are in the story of Frank family, and community. And are really important to understanding the narrative and understanding the of that Frank McWorter, even he has a and go on to free a total of family members at a of over a million of that able to that productive in for his who has to In for his to to Frank must that for his freedom. And he once a man of his family and a new is to this. to know the and Illinois will that if he can a to it, he can produce So once he a for he New Philadelphia in he that platted of New Philadelphia, the of our And because it is the of He is to have a of the American right there in central This is a story that we can be to still of the that were going on there. The a where I was told any could stop and get a of important if or of miles