Announcing the publication of a local history

Local author, Catherine Quillman, has spent the last three years giving walking tours of historic sites in West Chester, Pa. Based on her research, the second of three planned books was recently published with the help of a grant from the Leeway Foundation in Philadelphia.

The 91-page illustrated book, “Walking the “Uptown”: the historic African-American community of West Chester, Pa.” offers a rare glimpse into the lives of early black entrepreneurs who operated oyster bars and other small businesses alongside white-owned establishments.

Although its designed as a walking tour, comprised of 23 sites, each illustrated with old postcards, vintage photographs and early advertisements, the book can also be used as a scholarly resource. The book includes an introduction and an appendix highlighting such topics as the northern migration of black residents of the south from the 1840s to the 1900s as well as West Chester’s anti-slavery activities prior to the Civil War.

The walking tour/history also documents sites relating to Bayard Rustin, chief organizer of the “I Have A Dream” 1963 march on Washington, DC.

More information can be found at www.quillman_publications.com

http://www.amazon.com/Catherine-C.-Quillman/e/B00D5PVY8O