In two detailed letters, the teachers at the Pottsville Freedmen's School highlighted their educational efforts in Tennessee.
Letters from the Pottsville Freedmen’s School in Tennessee – May 1867
“Richmond has fallen! Richmond is ours!” – A victory poem from April 1865
Claude Merchant's April 1865 poem summed up the feelings in Pottsville, Pennsylvania after the Confederate capital fell to US forces.
“A glance at Pottsville” – A description of the Schuylkill County seat from 1866
A Brooklyn Daily Eagle reporter made a stop in the Schuylkill County seat in the summer of 1866.
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.
A 1919 history of the Short Mountain Coal Company – Wiconisco Township
Founded in 1851, the Short Mountain Coal Company grew rapidly during the Civil War in association with the Pennsylvania Railroad.
This 1864 map of Schuylkill County includes detailed illustrations of mining operations
This map from the Library of Congress collections includes fantastic illustrations of the Coal Region during the Civil War.
“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.
