Dunnings Creek Friends Meeting
285 Old Quaker Church Rd.
Fishertown, PA 15539
April 14, 2025

For Immediate Release – until May 4, 2025

The Dunnings Creek Friends Meeting (Quakers) will present the Spring 2025 event in their ‘Still Listening’ guest speaker series on local history on May 4th. Harriett L. Gaston will present The Great Migration to Claysburg, PA: 1910-1930 and 1940-1960 at the Meetinghouse in Fishertown.

The Great Migration was the relocation of more than six million African Americans from the rural South to mostly urban areas in the North, Midwest, and West during the years 1910 to 1970. The migration was motivated by Jim Crow laws, racial violence, and the promise of economic opportunities in the rapidly industrializing North.

This presentation will highlight the little-known history of those African Americans who came to Claysburg, PA to work for the General Refractories Company. The community historian, Ms. Harriett Gaston, will present information on their impact on Claysburg and what they achieved when they became a part of that community.

Ms. Gaston, a local historical researcher and well-known presenter, is chair of the African-American Heritage Project of Blair County. A native of Charlotte, NC, she has lived in Altoona for thirty-five years, and is employed as an undergraduate student adviser by Penn State Altoona. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Davidson College, NC, as well as a master’s from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She is active in the community through such programs as Leadership Blair County, ArtsAltoona, the African-American Heritage Festival, and the Hollidaysburg Heritage Group Tour Committee.

Under her leadership the Heritage Project was created to research and document the hidden history of the area’s Black communities. Ms. Gaston’s research is built upon the gathering of stories, photos, newspaper articles, and books shared with her by members of the Project, the extended families of the local African-American community, the Blair County Historical Society and Genealogical Society, and other community residents.

This Still Listening program will be held at the historic Dunnings Creek Friends Meetinghouse (also known as the Old Brick Quaker Church), 285 Old Quaker Church Road, Fishertown, PA 15539, as well as online via Zoom, on Sunday, May 4, 2025 at 2:00 PM. There is no admission charge. Everyone is welcome.
Email dunningscreekquakers@gmail.com for the Zoom link or further information.

Media contact:
David A. Lewis
(814) 626-0109
dunningscreekquakers@gmail.com
3615 Evitts Creek Rd.
Bedford, PA 15522-5605