African American Life

African American Life. , Middle class African Americans thrived in Southeastern Pennsylvania – long before it was common in other parts of the nation. The famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass made many of his speeches in the area. Thornbury citizens elected a black judge, Squire Hazzard, in the late 1800's., Quaker attitudes of tolerance, and job opportunities such as those at Thornbury's quarry, allowed African Americans to prosper. They maintained a strong community at the Thornbury African Methodist Church, whose roots go back to before 1834., In 1902, The Institute for Colored Youth found a new home at George Cheyney's farm. Founded in 1837, it is the oldest historically black college in the United States. Today, students know it as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania., [Photo caption, clockwise from top left, read] , . Jennie Boyer, probably from the Oxford, PA area., . Steady work, like that at Thornbury's quarry, allowed area African Americans to enjoy a middle-class lifestyle., . Cheyney Teacher's Training School postcard, 1908, . When heavy snow collapsed the roof of the AME church, the community gathered to rebuild., . Thornbury African Methodist Church, . An integrated [women's field] hockey team at a local school., . Frederick Douglass, [Timeline] , 1836 Willcox Mills purchase Sarum Forge for use as paper mill. , 1839 Daguerre invents the first form of photography. , 1843 Unprecedented flooding causes major destruction in Thornbury. , 1859 Edwin Drake drills the nation's first oil well in Titusville, PA.