A historically African-American municipality, known in various areas as "freedmen's town", "freedom towns", or "all-Black towns", are municipalities which were established by or for a predominantly African-American populace.[1] Many of these municipalities were established or populated by freed slaves[2] either during or after the period of legal slavery in the United States in the 19th century.[3]
In Oklahoma before the end of segregation there existed dozens of these communities as many African-American migrants from the Southeast found a space whereby they could establish municipalities on their own terms.[4] Chief among them was Edward P. McCabe, who envisioned so large a number of African-Americans settling in the territory that it would become a Black-governed state. In Texas, 357 such "freedom colonies" have been located and verified.[5]
List
editPlaces marked in italics are no longer populated.
Alabama
editArizona
editArkansas
editCalifornia
editCanada
editColorado
editFlorida
editGeorgia
editIllinois
editIndiana
editKansas
editKentucky
editLouisiana
editMaine
editMaryland
editMassachusetts
editMississippi
editMissouri
editNebraska
editNew Jersey
editNew Mexico
editNew York
editNorth Carolina
edit- Bethania[11]
- Hayti
- James City
- Method, North Carolina, now part of Raleigh
- Princeville
- Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony
- Oberlin Village, Raleigh, North Carolina
Oklahoma
edit- Boley
- Brooksville
- Clearview
- Grayson
- IXL
- Langston
- Lima
- Redbird
- Rentie Grove, Tulsa
- Rentiesville
- Summit
- Taft
- Tatums
- Tullahassee
- Vernon
- Greenwood, Tulsa
South Carolina
editTennessee
editTexas
edit- Barrett Station
- Bear Creek, Texas (Dallas County)
- Douglass Community
- Clarksville Historic District (Austin,TX)
- Deep Ellum, Dallas
- Ellis Alley, San Antonio
- Elm Thicket, Dallas
- Freedmen's Town Historic District, Fourth Ward, Houston[12]
- Hillcrest, Corpus Christi
- Independence Heights, Houston
- Kendleton
- Little Egypt
- Moore Station
- Mosier Valley
- Pelham, Texas[13]
- Peyton, Texas[14]
- Quakertown[15]
- Saint Johns Colony
- Shankleville
- Sunnyside
- Tamina[16]
- Tenth Street Historic District, Dallas[17]
Virginia
editFurther reading
edit- Brown, DeNeen L. (March 27, 2015). "All-black towns across America: Life was hard but full of promise". Washington Post.
References
edit- ^ SITTON, THAD (June 12, 2010). "Freedmen's settlements". tshaonline.org.
- ^ Roberts, Andrea (November 17, 2017). ""A Conversation" and "Portals to Freedom or Researching in Limbo Time"". UTSOA Platform 2017: Convergent Voices: 10.
- ^ "All-black towns across America: Life was hard but full of promise". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ "Oklahoma's All-Black Towns | This Land Press - Made by You and Me". thislandpress.com. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ "Announcement! Online Black Settlement Atlas, Statewide Survey Goes Live July 12!". Texas Freedom Colonies Project. July 12, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
The team has located and verified the existence of 357 settlements.
- ^ "Freedtown Historical Marker". History of Pasco County, Florida. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
- ^ "Freedtown: The town that vanished in Pasco County". February 7, 2019.
- ^ "Rosewood Massacre - Overview, Facts & Legacy". History.com. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ^ "The Effort to Preserve Huntertown". Spectrum News 1. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ a b Goddard, David (2011). Colonizing Southampton: The Transformation of a Long Island Community, 1870-1900. SUNY Press. p. 48. ISBN 9781438437989.
- ^ Keuffel, Ken (August 17, 2012). "Freedman's Community Moves Toward Recognition". Winston-Salem Journal.
- ^ "Houston: Freedmen's Town Historic District". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
- ^ "Pelham, TX". Texas State Historical Society. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ "Peyton, TX (Blanco County)". Texas State Historical Society. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ "Quakertown, TX". Texas State Historical Society. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
- ^ Murrmann, Mark. "Powerful photos from one of Texas' most historic black communities".
- ^ "Tenth Street Historic District". City of Dallas. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
- ^ Holland, Jesse J. (May 20, 2010). "Arlington Graves Cover 'Freedman's Village'". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 21, 2014.