As a member of the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, New Philadelphia participates in the National Park Service Passport to Your National Parks initiative.  Visitors can commemorate their visit to New Philadelphia with a validation stamp in the “additional cancellations” section of their colorful NPS passport, which includes among its many […]

“A People’s College Primer,” 1969, “initially developed for a course at Fisk University, this text went through six editions and became a staple in programs around the nation. Gift of Dr. Bertha Maxwell Roddey” on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, part of the “A Changing America” exhibition.

Family treasures contributed by the McWorter family and artifacts recovered during archaeological excavations at New Philadelphia are displayed in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History as part of the “Many Voices, One Nation”  section of The Nation We Build Together exhibition.  Many members of the McWorter family attended the official opening of the exhibit […]

Hosted by Dr. Joseph Schuldenrein, Dr. Christopher Fennel and National Park Service Tara Petit, project manager, National Park Service Denver Service Center, participated in a discussion evaluating the significance of New Philadelphia and the special resource study conducted at the site.  The special resource study, approved by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, […]

The Illinois Archaeology Survey honored the New Philadelphia Association with the organization’s 2016 Public Service Award noting, “For over two decades, the NPA has worked relentlessly, and with outstanding results, to ensure the integrity of this 42-ace site and to promote research, conservation and commemoration of its archaeological and heritage resources.”  Dr. Christopher Fennell, associate […]

For more than two years we have been selling our book about New Philadelphia, and it’s a milestone to have sold 1000 copies.  Thanks to Books on the Square for selling it online, and thanks to Marynel and Jerry Corton who get it out in Pike County.  Get yours today!          

Dr. Chis Fennell published a new book entitled, Broken Chains and Subverted Plans,” which discusses New Philadelphia.

The National Park Service (NPS) is conducting a special resource study of the New Philadelphia town site in the State of Illinois. The purpose of the study, as directed by Congress, is to evaluate the national significance of the site, and the suitability and feasibility of adding it to the national park system. In addition, […]

NPA will participate in the Smithsonian Institution Folklife Festival July 2016. Visitors will have a chance to learn more about McWorter(a freedman who settled in New Philadelphia) and his family family with the New Philadelphia Association at the 2016 Folklife Festival’s On the Move: Migration and Immigration Today tent on July 9 at noon.

Dr. Fennell, a co-director of the New Philadelphia archaeology project, participated in a discussion with National Park Service representatives Tom Gibney and Tara Pettit, leaders of the recent special resources study of the site. Dr, Fennell explained that at New Philadelphia state-of-the-art technology, such as Lidar and thermal analysis complimented traditional archaeological excavation methods to […]