'Rich Diversity' Featured In Yardley Historical Program

YARDLEY, PA —The borough's rich diversity of residents dating back to the late 1700s will be highlighted during an Oct. 20 presentation.

Shirley Lee Corsey —who oversees the Gather Place at the African Methodist Episcopal Church on South Canal Street —will present “Yardley Borough’s Hidden Figures and Fascinating Facts in Plain Sight.”

The presentation will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Old Library by Lake Afton, 46 West Afton Avenue. It is hosted by the Yardley Historical Association.

Raised on South Canal Street in Yardley, Corsey still owns her family home there. Her experiences led her to seek out the stories of friends and neighbors. With those findings, she created blogs celebrating Black History Month for the Bucks County Conference and Visitors Bureau.

She continues to expand upon her research and has developed a new program.

Dressed in colonial garb, she will share her discoveries. Recollections, conversations, and photographs will be used to illustrate the activities, traditions, events, and landmark buildings that have shaped Yardley.

Yardley was a station for the Underground Railroad, an escape route for slaves, during the Civil War where one hiding place was the Continental Tavern, then known as the Continental Hotel.

The Gather Place held its grand opening as a Bucks County History Museum last month.

For more information about this program or other activities of the Yardley Historical Association, call 215-208-1154, e-mail info@yardleyhistory.org, or visit www.yardleyhistory.org.

The Yardley Historical Association preserves, maintains, and shares the Old Library by Lake Afton and its collections of books, documents, and ephemera related to Yardley’s history.