DCHS Historian Nancy Webster is the moderator for this year's lecture series. Many historians feel that Delaware County's critical location along the Delaware River and the state of Delaware made the area an important destination for runaway slaves. Evidence that fugitive slaves found safe havens here on the road north can be seen in Middletown and Concord Townships, Chester Heights, Aston, Newtown Square and Havertown, Upper Darby and Darby. In the mid-19th century, Delaware was a slave state, even though it was the only southern state where a black was considered free unless he or she was proven to be a slave. For most fugitive slaves, crossing the line into Delaware County was the first time in generations that a member of their families experienced life without slavery.
Admission is free and all are welcome.