In researching their new book, Slavery, Friends, and Freedom in Bucks County, authors Pat Mervine and Joe Coleman have uncovered dozens of untold stories about Bucks County people and places involved with the Underground Railroad. They have been able to link Bucks County to daring escapes, challenges to the Fugitive Slave Act, and even an infamous Supreme Court decision, all of which made national headlines. The stories they will share will take you back to the time when slavery and bounty-hunting were legal, and when people of both races found the courage, compassion, and conviction needed to make Bucks County a safe haven and Pennsylvania a free state.

The book, Slavery, Friends, and Freedom in Bucks County, will be available for purchase; the full purchase price of $30 goes to the African American Museum of Bucks County’s Capital Campaign. Cash only, please.

This program is presented in conjunction with the National Library of Medicine’s Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine exhibit, on display at the Grundy Library from January 27-March 8, 2025.

Registration is required. Secure your spot at grundylibrary.org.

Questions? Please call the Grundy Library at 215.788.7891.

About the Authors:

Patricia L. Mervine enjoyed a 30-year career as a speech/language pathologist and assistive technology consultant in Bucks County schools.  For her second act, Pat has become immersed in researching local history.  Her first book on local history, Boone Farm: Its People and Place in Middletown History, tells the stories of the twenty-one owners of the Boone Farm, a 1716 stone farmhouse on the banks of Core Creek. That property is soon to be the permanent home of the African American Museum of Bucks County.  Both Boone Farm and Slavery, Friends, and Freedom in Bucks County are Pat’s gifts to the African American Museum of Bucks County, a project she believes in with whole heart and soul.

Joseph Coleman retired in 2019 after teaching United States history in high schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for a total of 35 years. He is now teaching history at The College of New Jersey. He serves as the archivist for the Hulmeville Historical Society and wrote Hulmeville Borough A History at 150 to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Hulmeville. Joe was delighted when Pat invited him to help with this project and hopes to continue to support the work of the African American Museum of Bucks County.

This program is offered by Margaret R. Grundy Memorial Library in support of the PA Forward | Pennsylvania Libraries initiative. Libraries are key to powering progress and elevating the quality of life in PA by fueling the types of knowledge essential to success: Basic Literacy, Information Literacy, Civic and Social Literacy, Health Literacy, and Financial Literacy.