At Shippensburg University, undergraduates have many opportunities to do original historical research projects supervised by faculty who are experts in their fields. Here you can see Jared Diehl and Anna Crawford’s poster presentation for the annual 2023 Academic Day, which commences the semester. Anna and Jared worked this summer to uncover whatever sources they could find regarding a small settlement near here (in Fayetteville, actually) that was settled around 1837 called “Africa” — and later, Brownsville.
It is a fascinating project — the community was perhaps the size of a couple blocks, and was begun by an abolitionist politician named Thaddeus Stevens, who wanted to provide a refuge for African Americans fleeing slavery and wanting jobs in a safe environment. Since Thaddeus owned the Caledonia Iron Works nearby, he employed black Americans in the area. Africa also became a stop along the Underground Railroad.
Anna and Jared were able to find some Church records that discussed Africa/Brownsville (the Caledonia Iron Works was destroyed by Confederates in the Civil War, but the community remained), as well as a cemetery and some maps. They concluded that there are very few written records that tell of the community (they did find out that four families had dominated throughout the decades), but they are hoping to uncover more information soon by conducting oral history interviews.
Nowadays, the area of the Caledonia Iron Works is a state park, and the Africa/Brownsville community has largely been enveloped by other villages and settled areas. It’s terrific that Jared Diehl and Anna Crawford were able to conduct such interesting research under the guidance of Dr. Steven Burg, who has a specialization in rural African-American cemeteries.
