Some white residents of Schuylkill County believed former slaves were going replace them in the coal mines during the Civil War.
A racist conspiracy theory found root in Schuylkill County in 1862
“New faces” – An April 1867 letter from the Pottsville Freedmen’s School
Fannie A. Couch wrote to Schuylkill County from Tennessee to provide updates about the Freedmen's School she was managing.
A black childhood in Pottsville in the 1930s – Charles H. King, Jr.
Charles H. King, Jr. eloquently described his childhood in Pottsville in his book, "Fire in my Bones."
“Give all men a chance and fair play” – Frederick Douglass in Pottsville
Frederick Douglass gave two speeches in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in October 1867.
Pottsville teachers resign to head south and open school for freedpeople – February 1867
Fannie Couch and Hannah Streeper prepared to leave Schuylkill County to teach black students in Tennessee in 1867.
“Heroic cause of education” – Pottsville established a “Freedmen’s Relief Association” in 1867
In December 1866, a committee was formed in Pottsville that sought to fund and carry out education for former slaves in the war-torn South.
“Fire in My Bones” – Pottsville native and Civil Rights leader Charles H. King’s memoir
Charles H. King Jr. lead seminars about race in America and participated in the Civil Rights movement. He grew up in Schuylkill County.
A powerful editorial from Pottsville’s black community – 1940
In the summer of 1940, a new minister at Pottsville's Bethel AME Church sought to reach out to the Coal Region's white community for economic cooperation.
