Skip to Main Content
Digital Public Library of America
  • Home
  • Browse by Topic
  • Browse by Partner
  • Exhibitions
  • Primary Source Sets
  • My Lists
  • About DPLA
  • News
  • DPLA Pro
  • Home
  • Browse by Topic
  • Browse by Partner
  • Exhibitions
  • Primary Source Sets
  • My Lists
  • About DPLA
  • News
  • DPLA Pro
Primary Source Sets
Exodusters: African American Migration to the Great Plains
An excerpt from an 1887 map of Graham County, Kansas, including Nicodemus, an African American community founded in 1877.

An excerpt from an 1887 map of Graham County, Kansas, including Nicodemus, an African American community founded in 1877.

The town of Nicodemus, Kansas was founded by a group of African Americans from Kentucky in 1877 as one of the first all-black communities in Kansas. By the 1880s, Nicodemus had several hundred residents, some stores and businesses, a post office, churches, and a school. Part of the appeal for Exodusters to move to a settlement like Nicodemus was the opportunity to claim tracts of land under the Homestead Act. This map of Nicodemus suggests both a small town in the shaded area and expansive surrounding land (shaded in green).

Citation Information
Everts & Co, L.H., excerpt from “Graham Co., Kansas,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/b50bba1763e6a48ca7e4486f98808f12.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of David Rumsey.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 14 of 15 in the Primary Source Set Exodusters: African American Migration to the Great Plains

Previous ItemNext Item
An illustration from Harper’s Weekly depicting white men subjecting a black man to violent intimidation while voting, 1876.
An 1875 newspaper article inviting Tennessee’s African American residents to participate in a state convention about migration to Kansas.
A photograph of Benjamin “Pap” Singleton, 1880.
A broadside distributed by Benjamin Singleton advertising migration to Kansas, 1878.
A sheet of lyrics for a song entitled, “The Land that Gives Birth to Freedom,” about leaving Tennessee for Kansas, 1877.
A map showing black towns and settlements in Kansas and Oklahoma in 1900.
A letter from John Turner of St. Louis authorizing William Lloyd Garrison to raise funds for migrants en route to Kansas, April 2, 1879.
A print from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper depicting African Americans en route to Kansas via St. Louis, 1879.
A photograph of a crowded steamboat with migration organizers Benjamin Singleton and S. A. McClure superimposed in the foreground.
An illustration from Harper’s Weekly entitled, “The Negro Exodus: The Old Style and the New,” May 1, 1880.
An excerpt from the Second Report of the Kansas Freedmen’s Relief Association, 1880.
A 1910 photograph of Elsie and Lela Scott, children of Exodusters John and Julia Scott, who settled in Stafford County, Kansas.
A photograph of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Nicodemus, Kansas.
An excerpt from an 1887 map of Graham County, Kansas, including Nicodemus, an African American community founded in 1877.
An excerpt from Benjamin Singleton’s testimony before Congress, 1880.

These sets were created and reviewed by teachers. Explore resources and ideas for Using DPLA's Primary Source Sets in your classroom.

To give feedback, contact us at info@dp.la. You can also view resources for National History Day.

DPLA

  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • How Can I Use DPLA?
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Harmful Content
  • About DPLA
  • Contact Us
  • Feedback
  • News

Tools

  • Primary Source Sets
  • Browse by Partner
  • Browse by Topic
  • Exhibitions
  • My Lists
  • Search

DPLA Pro

  • DPLA Pro Home
  • Prospective Hubs
  • Hub Network
  • Developers
  • Education
  • Projects
  • Ebooks
  • Events
Donate
DPLA Home
FacebookInstagramTwitter