For the month of February, the Hagen History Center will be recognizing African Americans in Erie County: A Trail of Shared Heritage (The Trail).
Trail #22: Bladen Farm – Bladen Road just off Cherry Street Extension, Erie Bo Bladen was taken in his youth from Guinea and enslaved on a Maryland plantation. Brought to Erie by John Grubb, in 1796 Bladen won his freedom and purchased 400 acres in Mill Creek Township – a parcel located here on the east edge of Glenwood Park. After Bladen’s death, his son William continued to live on the Bladen Farm which remained in the family’s possession until 1895, spanning nearly the first full century of Erie’s history.
For the month of February, Hagen History Center will be recognizing African Americans in Erie County: A Trail of Shared Heritage (The Trail).
The Trail is a community history project that dates back to 2013, that continues to inspire us about Erie’s Black History. Hagen History Center planned to present multiple images for each stop on the Trail, but then realized our collections lack visual materials for a few of the stops.
To help us rectify this, we are inviting readers to become Citizen Archivists.
A Citizen Archivist is a term coined in 2010 by the National Archives and describes a virtual volunteer who helps professional archivists by locating and uploading relevant information, tagging, and adding metadata to already established online archives.
Click the link for the Trail, and if you happen to have documents, photographs, maps, or other images associated with a trail number, send us a message on social media! We will be posting a few times a week, so stay tuned!
