Political Quotes

“I want to thank the gentleman from Alaska for yielding me this time, and for his leadership on the committee to make these bills law. Mr. Speaker, New Philadelphia, Illinois, was the first town founded and built by a freed slave, and it happened before the Civil War. Today, this historic town in my district deserves designation as a national park, and H.R. 930 will pave the way for official recognition. The man who founded New Philadelphia was Frank McWorter, a Kentucky slave who worked to buy his own freedom and that of his wife and 15 family members. At a time of immense cultural and political hostilities over the issue of slavery, the McWorter family and other citizens of New Philadelphia built a town where free African Americans and European settlers lived and worked side by side. Due to their hard work and strong faith, the scourge of racial violence never gained a foothold in the town, despite the upheaval around them. Think of the significance of that. The people of New Philadelphia built the dream of Martin Luther King a full 127 years before his immortal words were spoken on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Long before the Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of American schools, these Illinoisans were teaching their children in the same classrooms, letting them play in the same parks, and drawing water from the same wells. The story of New Philadelphia is a proud heritage for central Illinois, and it deserves to be shared with all Americans.…”