Reports, essays, research & more

In 1870, citizens of Lancaster celebrated what was called a "Jubilee"...a community out-pouring of happiness and satisfaction that a cherished prize -- after years of struggle and waiting -- had finally been won. What was it? The right to vote as full-fledged citizens finally had been restored...to black men at least. They had been stripped of that basic democratic right in Pennsylvania since 1838. Hundreds of citizens marched in the streets of the City and elsewhere across the County in peaceful mass demonstrations of prayer, joy and hope for the future. But those "Days of Jubilee" were short-lived, since the weeks, months and years thereafter have been long on continuing struggles through the years of Jim Crow segregation, and far too short on joy. We know well today, as citizens take to the streets again with hopes and demand for change, that the future envisioned by people in 1870 is still coming into focus. Please read Dr. Leroy Hopkins' essay and share with your friends and family.  Find out what inspired protests and public demonstrations by Lancaster's civil rights pioneers at that critical time in American History. And think about today... Just click on the cover illustration at left. 

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