[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 107 (Monday, August 3, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING THE KANSAS TOWN OF NICODEMUS AS A NATIONAL HISTORICAL SITE

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                            HON. JERRY MORAN

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, August 3, 1998

  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, Kansas is home to countless towns 
and communities that have legendary pasts and are full of historical 
significance. This past weekend one of our communities marked a very 
special homecoming; when Nicodemus, Kansas celebrated its annual 
Emancipation Celebration and its recognition by the National Park 
Service as a National Historical Site.
  Descendants of the early settlers, area residents, state and national 
officials, and other visitors from throughout the country were on hand 
to celebrate this historic event. This past weekend visitors were 
treated to a Buffalo Soldier re-enactment, a gospel concert, parade, 
and services at the historic First Baptist Church.
  While many of us have heard and read the tales of the old west, Wyatt 
Earp, or some of Kansas' rough-and-tumble cattle towns, too few have 
heard the story of courage and hope that are the heritage and history 
of Nicodemus, Kansas.
  Nicodemus was first settled in 1877 by some 300 black Americans who 
fled the south following the Civil War and the horrors of slavery. 
While many similar black settlements were founded during this period, 
Nicodemus remains the only such community to survive west of the 
Mississippi River.
  The town of Nicodemus, founded soon after the darkest days of our 
republic, is now properly recognized as a national symbol of freedom 
and courage.
  Mr. Speaker our state motto in Kansas reads, Ad Astra Per Aspera, to 
the stars through difficulty. And I can think of no other community 
that better reflects this motto than the town of Nicodemus.

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