by Sarah Wesley (Author), Catherine C. Quillman (Author)
A short history of an Historic African-American Community in West Chester, Pennsylvania, This self-guided walking tour is illustrated with numerous photographs, many of them offering a rare glimpse into the 19th-century lives of early black entrepreneurs. The book also documents the Civil Rights era: Bayard Rustin, famous as the chief tactician of nonviolent action and the organizer of the March of 1963, was born and raised in the East End.
Author Biography
Catherine Quillman is a former suburban staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer, where she covered the arts and wrote numerous history pieces on the little known aspects of West Chester and Chester County, Pennsylvania. She has lived in the borough since 1994, and is now a freelance arts reporter and magazine writer. She is the author of five regional books including the recently published art book, 100 Artists of the Brandywine Valley. She also helps other writers with the print-on-demand publishing process. To learn more, visit www. quillman-publications. Sarah Wesley is a native of West Chester whose writing and artistic career has included working at the Chester County Historical Society (CCHS) and serving as the main coordinator for an annual African-American Art Show that benefited a local NAACP scholarship fund. Her community work has focused on helping young people connect with local black history. This has included writing and editing "Word", an African-American history newsletter for which she was honored by the black student union at Henderson High School in West Chester. Sarah was instrumental in drawing attention to the historical importance of the Star of West Tent to obtain a State Historical Marker there - the only marker of its kind in the East End. She also assisted in the scholarship and community outreach for two award-winning exhibits at CCHS, "Between Women," and "Just Over the Line: Chester County and the Underground Railroad." Her work with CCHS (where she was employed for 15 years) also led her to write the original walking tour that formed the basis of this book.