Ellis Public Library
ELLIS — Friends of the Ellis Public Library in Ellis, KS will host “Children of the Promised Land,” a presentation and discussion by Angela Bates on Feb. 1 at 3:00pm at the Ellis Public Library, 907 Washington St.
Members of the community are invited to attend the free program.
Contact the library at 785-726-3464 or any Friends board member for more information. The program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.
Nicodemus, a small, unincorporated town in Graham County, is the only remaining western town established by African Americans during the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War. Black homesteaders settled the town, which today is a national historic site. This pictorial history explores the unique experience of mothers and their children in Nicodemus, some of whom were the first members of their families born free.
Bates is the executive director and past president of the Nicodemus Historical Society. She presents educational programs across the nation covering Nicodemus, Exodusters and black towns in the West, Buffalo Soldiers, and black women in the West.
“My great uncle, Henry Williams, was the first baby born in Nicodemus just a month after my great-grandmother Emma arrived with the first group of settlers in 1877,” said Bates. “He was one of the first in his generation born on the free soils of Kansas. He represents the many children of his generation that were reared by parents who were former slaves.”
For more information about “Children of the Promised Land” in Ellis contact the Ellis Public Library at 785-726-3464 or visit their Facebook page Ellis Public Library.
“Children of the Promised Land” is part of Humanities Kansas's Speakers Bureau and “21st Century Civics,” a collection of resources that invite Kansans to participate in community discussions and learn more about the history of American democracy and the shared responsibilities of citizenship. “21st Century Civics” is made possible with support from “A More Perfect Union: America at 250,” an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.