They traveled from Kentucky to the “Promised Land” on the Solomon River of Kansas. Emancipated African Americans found a road to freedom after the Civil War, and established the oldest and only remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi at Nicodemus, Kan. Emporia State University Special Collections and Archives hosted “Children of the Promised Land,” a Humanities Kansas presentation by Angela Bates Tuesday evening. Bates is the executive director and past president of the Nicodemus Historical Society. A direct descendant of the town founders, she presents programs across the country about her unique hometown. Bates graduated from Emporia State University in 1975.
Source: Emporia Gazette
