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Garst
Museum...
Darke County, African
Americans, and the Civil War
On Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 2:00 pm, the Garst Museum will present
the third in a series of lectures open to the public. Mr. Roane
Smothers will be the speaker. Roane will share stories of African
Americans from the Longtown area and Darke County who left to fight in
the Civil War.
Longtown was a predominantly African American settlement in Darke
County that included people of African, European, and American Indian
ancestry. The population included many freed or runaway slaves. With
the establishment of a vocational school known as the Union Literary
Institute, Longtown created an opportunity for African Americans to
become land-owning farmers, craftsmen, skilled workers and
professionals during a period when slavery and racism were prevalent.
Genealogy as a hobby led Roane to trace his mother’s roots. He stated,
“She was born and raised in Richmond, Indiana, however her father’s
family was from Longtown. From that research, I learned about the
history of Longtown. In the belief that the history of Longtown was
important American History, I nominated the James and Sophia Clemens
Farmstead to the National Register of Historic Places and to the
National Park Service’s ‘Network to Freedom Program,’ as an Underground
Railroad Site.”
All lectures are free and open to the public. Support for the Garst
Lecture series comes, in part, from the Ami McClurkin Community
Foundation that is administered by the HOPE Foundation of Darke County.
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