Schuylkill County’s Civil War veterans signed resolutions supporting American entrance into World War I – April 1917

The aging veterans who were the first to arrive at the US Capitol in April 1861 pledged their loyalty to the Union once more as America entered World War I.

A racist conspiracy theory found root in Schuylkill County in 1862

Some white residents of Schuylkill County believed former slaves were going replace them in the coal mines during the Civil War.

“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.

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.

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.