“Free” Frank McWorter was a man with ambition, dedication, guts and a burning desire for freedom for himself and others. He was the first African American in the nation to plat and legally registered a town.

Learn how “Free” Frank established an integrated community on the Illinois prairie and bought the freedom of more than a dozen people from slavery.

The episode was written by David Blanchette, directed by Heather Feezor, and edited by Steven Varble. Narration provided by, Springfield Illinois Actor, Kevin Ford.

This episode is funded in part by a grant from Illinois Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.  Any views, findings in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Music by Mike Anderson and Royce Jones www.dulcimerguy.com
Mississippi Sawyer, Lincoln and Liberty-Rosin the Bow, Soldier Joy, The Minstrel Boy, Shortnin Bread,

Sounds supplied by www.freesound.org by the following creators under various creative commons licenses: Chirping Birds: ifartinurgeneraldirection; Laughing: richwise; Pick Axe: guyburns; Child Laughing: obxjohn; Arkansas Traveler: ecfike; Crowd: craigsmith; Horse Carriage: urkki69; Hammering; wim; Crowd: klankbeeld; Anvil; arnaud-coutancier; Laughing: Richwise; Church Bell: 16f-panska-veltrusky-david; Children Playing: piermic; Train: FunWithSound; Chickens Flapping: mrrap4food; Dog Bark: juan-merie-venter;