LibertyHighSchool

"N ew Philadelphia looked like a typical west-central Illinois pioneer town to travelers cresting the hill overlooking the place in the mid-1800s. Imagine villagers filling baskets with a bounty of apples, corn, and wheat, while chickens clucked and pigs rooted in nearby pens. Picture farmers hitching mules and oxen to carts filled with vegetables, fruit, and grain to sell at markets. Listen for loud clanging from the blacksmith's shop as hammers shaped hot metal into shoes for mules and horses. As in other frontier towns, smoke from cooking fires swirled from the dwellings that dotted small plots of land. But New Philadelphia was not a typical pioneer town. It was the first town platted and registered by an African American before the American Civil War. A formerly enslaved man called "Free Frank" McWorter founded New Philadelphia in 1836 as a money-making venture to buy his family out of slavery. Census records and other historical documents tell us that New Philadelphia was a place where black and white villagers lived side by side, but we know that the town's dead lie buried in cemeteries separated by color. By 1885, many villagers had moved away in search of jobs and better economic opportunities. Plows buried any material remains left behind, and grazing livestock and crops covered most of the site. By the 1940s, nothing of the town remained above ground. However, the town's descendants and neighboring communities did not forget New Philadelphia. Descendents continued to live in the area until the 1950s. Grace Matteson wrote "Free Frank" McWorter and the "Ghost Town" of New Philadelphia, Pike County, Illinois. Later, Lorraine Burdick remembered the town in New Philadelphia: Where I Lived. McWorter family descendants were members of the Negro History Movement led by Carter G. Woodson, and through their activities the story of Free Frank was kept alive. Helen McWorter Simpson, great granddaughter of Free Frank McWorter, wrote Makers of History. Juliet E. K. Wa

"The exhibition Voices of Civil Rights documents events during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. This exhibition draws from the thousands of personal stories, oral histories, and photographs collected by the "Voices of Civil Rights" project, a collaborative effort of AARP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), and the Library of Congress, and marks the arrival of these materials in the Library's collection."

This site links to many of the sites that relate to other Black History site of importance. Great site that covers all aspects of Black History very well. check this site first!

"Welcome to the Black Inventor Online Museum ™, a look at the great and often unrecognized leaders in the field of invention and innovation. For more than 300 years, black inventors have served as pioneers in the field of science and have made enormous impacts on society. As African Americans sought freedom and equality, many among them, scientists, educators and even slaves, developed the tools and processes that helped to shape the modern agricultural, industrial and technological landscape. While some are famous, many remain unknown, but their contributions have assured that their stories are not only about black history, but about world history"

"The exhibition draws from the individual accounts and oral histories collected by the Voices of Civil Rights project, a collaborative effort of AARP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and the Library of Congress. Made possible by generous support from AARP, the exhibition celebrates the donation of these materials to the Library of Congress and links them to key collections in the Library. Members of the "Washington Freedom Riders Committee," en route to Washington, D.C., hang signs from bus windows to protest segregation, New York, 1961. Copyprint. New York World-Telegram and Sun Collection Prints and Photographs Division. Digital ID # cph 3c25958 "

Book reviews!

"Author Name Pronunciation Guide A collection of brief recordings of authors & illustrators saying their names. Hello, my name is . . . * Have authors and illustrators introduce themselves * Learn correct pronunciations of hard-to-pronounce names * Reveal stories behind the names "

"A book club, also referred to as a reading group, is a collection of readers who participate in the regular discussion of books. Traditionally, a book club consists of several members who meet in person each month to talk about a specific work. A Book Club is also... In addition to discussion-oriented book clubs described here, a book club can also be a place to purchase books. These discount book clubs offer great deals for readers who wish to purchase several books each year. Many of these are available online, where readers can use the book club's website to choose their books. However, the advent of web forums and email has made it possible for book clubs to exist online. While both traditional and online book clubs offer readers the opportunity to participate in spirited discussions, each type has its own set of advantages. Traditional book clubs offer the benefit of having all members in the same room, which makes for a much more personal and intimate experience. Since most traditional book clubs are somewhat small in size, each member typically has more control over what books are selected to read (often members will vote on a list of suggested titles that have been submitted or take turns selecting). At the same time, it is often difficult to organize and maintain a book club that meets regularly. In addition to the challenge of recruiting quality members for a book club, a regular meeting time and place may be difficult to establish, especially if members have busy schedules. Also, the small size of the traditional book club typically limits the diversity of views and perspectives that enter into the discussion. Online book clubs offer several advantages over the traditional reading group model. Due to the vastness of the web and the variety of book clubs available, readers who turn to the Internet to find a book club enjoy a much wider selection of clubs, including many dedicated to a specialized interest or genre. In addition, online book clubs

"Welcome to BookCrossing, where 857,675 people in over 130 countries come to share their passion for books with the world. Where books take on a life of their own. How? It's easy. Simply click on the link below and sign up for free in less than 1 minute-- that's it! BookCrossing is earth-friendly, and gives you a way to share your books, clear your shelves, and conserve precious resources at the same time. Through our own unique method of recycling reads, BookCrossers give life to books. A book registered on BookCrossing is ready for adventure. Leave it on a park bench, a coffee shop, at a hotel on vacation. Share it with a friend or tuck it onto a bookshelf at the gym -- anywhere it might find a new reader! What happens next is up to fate, and we never know where our books might travel. Track the book's journey around the world as it is passed on from person to person. Join hundreds of thousands of active BookCrossers daily in our many forums to discuss your favorite authors, characters and books in every genre throughout history right up through current releases."

"Hi! You've stumbled into a celebration of teenage angst and personal discovery. Here, you'll learn about great books for teens, meet interesting authors and other creative folks, and join me in honoring the joys and struggles of our teenage years. Welcome! "

"Your source for book reviews and recommendations on past, present, and future preteen, teen, and young adult books. "

Our program brings together enthusiastic young learners and distinguished college faculty to read and discuss Great Books and Big Ideas. Your student will discuss the likes of Plato, Jefferson, Tolstoy, Borges and Vonnegut with other young people who love literature just as much as they do! Join discussions on Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, or Henry Ward Beecher led by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Doris Kearns Goodwin, Joseph Ellis, Debby Applegate or one of our other Guest Speakers. This summer Great Books welcomes authors Richard Reeves to Stanford University and Dennis Lehane to Amherst College. Great Books helps students find their voices in the classroom and gives them the opportunity to grow academically and socially as they prepare for high school and college. Open discussions encourage students to express themselves and give power to their ideas. Have your high school student go beyond Great Books and explore Great Films! We take our unique style of learning through discussion and apply it to the medium of film. Students learn to apply critical thinking to a visual medium and develop their listening skills through discussion. Experience a week or two away from home and spend it at a top liberal arts college - students can choose from two campus settings: Amherst College in Massachusetts and Stanford University in California. This is the perfect opportunity to preview life on a college campus! Flexible 1, 2, or 3-week programs fit nicely into any summer schedule. Students may come solo, with a friend, or better yet, with a group of classmates. Round out a summer of leisure and sports with some engaging, thought-provoking fun! Great Books has welcomed students from 43 states as well as Hong Kong, Singapore, Jordan, Korea, China, Switzerland, England, Canada, France, Mexico, Denmark, Croatia, Italy and more. This is the perfect opportunity for international students to come to the U.S. for summer learning and

"In an attempt to increase book sales, HarperCollins Publishers will begin offering free electronic editions of some of its books on its Web site, including a novel by Paulo Coelho and a cookbook by the Food Network star Robert Irvine. The idea is to give readers the opportunity to sample the books online in the same way that prospective buyers can flip through books in a bookstore. "

JustFreeBooks search the content of more than 700 websites, including gutenberg.org, wikibooks.org and archive.org. With JustFreeBooks you can find public domain texts, open books, free audio books, ad-supported books and more. Just type in the search box the book, author or theme you want to find. Examples: * Guitar * Poetry * Ulysses by James Joyce * The War of the Worlds * Utopia * 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"