Student Historian

Casey Graham is a graduate student of history at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He received his BA in history from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, in 2010 and received his MA in 2014 from the University of Washington-Seattle. His interests are politics and culture in the twentieth-century United States, particularly the construction and uses of folk music; public history; and collective memory. He has conducted research on Communist musical culture in the 1930s and 1940s and the “freedom song” movement of the 1960s African American civil rights movement.

Lyles Station, Indiana (ca. 1840- )

Lyles Station, Indiana, is a community of African Americans located about five miles west of Princeton, Indiana, in Gibson County. It flourished from about 1880 to 1913, when it boasted an independent, self-sustaining community of about 800 black residents. The roots of Lyles Station began … Read MoreLyles Station, Indiana (ca. 1840- )

The Settlement (Galveston County, Texas) (1867-1953)

Restored Historic Bell Family Home, The Settlement “Image Ownership: Public Domain” The Settlement in current-day Texas City, Texas, was an independent community of African Americans established after the end of the Civil War. The community was located on three hundred and twenty acres in Galveston … Read MoreThe Settlement (Galveston County, Texas) (1867-1953)

Burns United Methodist Church (1866- )

“Image Ownership: C.A. Tucker (CC BY-SA 3.0)” Burns United Methodist Church (UMC) in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, is the oldest still-operating historically African American congregation in the state of Iowa. It was originally organized in 1866 as the Black Methodist Episcopal Church of Iowa, … Read MoreBurns United Methodist Church (1866- )

Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church (c. 1830- )

“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, located in Brooklyn, St. Clair County, Illinois, is one of the oldest still-operating historically African American church in the state of Illinois. Many of the details surrounding Quinn Chapel’s history are uncertain and contradictory. … Read MoreQuinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church (c. 1830- )

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Richmond, Indiana (1836- )

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, organized in September 1836 in Richmond, Indiana, is the oldest still-operating black congregation in the state of Indiana. It was organized by AME missionary William Paul Quinn, one of dozens of churches he founded during his life; Quinn would … Read MoreBethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Richmond, Indiana (1836- )

SNCC Freedom Singers (1962-1966)

Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singers were a musical group primarily active between 1962 and 1966, singing “freedom songs” in order to fundraise and organize on behalf of SNCC. The Freedom Singers emerged out of the Albany Movement of 1962. After witnessing the Albany Movement’s mass … Read MoreSNCC Freedom Singers (1962-1966)