Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Camp William Penn 

Donald Scott Sr. will speak about Camp William Penn that was the largest and first federal Civil War facility under President Abraham Lincoln’s Bureau of United States Colored Troops (USCT) to train Black soldiers during the war from 1863-1865 in what is today Cheltenham Township. Boasting the largest free-Black population outside of the South and the 19th-century’s epicenter of the Underground Railroad, Philadelphia and Camp William Penn hosted the greatest anti-slavery abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Robert Purvis, Lucretia Mott and William Still. Douglass and Tubman spoke to and rallied some of the almost 11,000 soldiers, many of them formerly enslaved who trained in eleven regiments that fought in a slew of major battles, helped to corner the Confederate general, Robert E. Lee,  and his Rebel forces, as well as capture President Lincoln’s assassins. Harriet Tubman married Nelson Davis, a warrior of the 8th USCT, from the facility. Three members of the 6th USCT earned the Medal of Honor for their bravery, and many gave their lives. At a time when America’s very existence was threatened, the warriors and freedom fighters for human equality associated with Camp William Penn were a major part of the country’s salvation.

A brief Society business meeting will occur prior to the start of the lecture.

Lectures are at 7:30PM EST and are FREE and open to the public.

In-person and on Zoom. Please click here to login in. Lectures are not recorded for later playback.

Abington Friends Meeting, 520 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown

Masks are recommended but not required to attend the lecture.

Don ‘Ogbewii’ Scott is a 1977 graduate of Cheyney University and 1990 grad of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and lives in the Melrose Park section of Cheltenham Township. He is a retired tenured professor from the Community College of Philadelphia, as well as served as an adjunct at Temple University, the University of the Sciences, Peirce College and Cheyney University.

Scott’s book, The Montiers:  From Enslavement to Paul Robeson and Beyond, was published by Brookline-Casemate publishers in January 2025. He has also written two books about Camp William Penn, the first and largest federal institution to train Black soldiers during the Civil War, as well as many articles about the Montiers and other topics for America’s Civil War magazine,  The Philadelphia Inquirer, Montgomery Newspapers Inc., England’s National Archives magazine, Ancestors, and more.  He has contributed to major Black-history book projects for the Oxford University Press and Houghton Mifflin. His lectures have been televised statewide and he’s presented Black-history talks at the Molefi Kete Asante Institute, the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and delivered live African-American history segments on WURD 900 AM, as well as appeared on television’s WHYY-PBS, WPVI-ABC and the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). 

The lecture series is sponsored by a grant from the Jenkinstown Lyceum. For more information, please call the Old York Road Historical Society at 215-886-8590.

If you are interested in learning about more of our future programs and are not on our email reminder list but would like to be, please send your email address to OldYorkRoadHistory@gmail.com. Information for upcoming programs and events can also be found on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.

If you are interested in learning about more of our future programs and are not on our email reminder list but would like to be, please send your email address to OldYorkRoadHistory@gmail.com. Information for upcoming programs and events can also be found on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.