“Slavery, Friends, and Freedom
in Bucks County"
Monday, September 15, 2025
Mercer Museum
Elkins Gallery
In researching their new book, “Slavery, Friends, and Freedom in Bucks County,” authors Pat Mervine and Joe Coleman have uncovered dozens of untold stories about Bucks County people and places involved with the Underground Railroad. They have been able to link Bucks County to daring escapes, challenges to the Fugitive Slave Act, and even an infamous Supreme Court decision, all of which made national headlines. The stories they will share will take you back to the time when slavery and bounty-hunting were legal, and when people of both races found the courage, compassion, and conviction needed to make Bucks County a safe haven and Pennsylvania a free state.
Patricia L. Mervine has become immersed in researching local history. Her first book on local history, "Boone Farm: Its People and Place in Middletown History,” tells the stories of the twenty-one owners of the Boone Farm, a 1716 stone farmhouse on the banks of Core Creek. For her volunteerism and advocacy, Pat was named the 2025 recipient of the Bucks County Women’s History Month Award.
Joseph Coleman retired in 2019 after teaching United States history in high schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for a total of 35 years. He is now teaching history at The College of New Jersey. Joe serves as the archivist for the Hulmeville Historical Society. Along with Pat, Joe devoted a year of his life to the research and writing of “Slavery, Friends, and Freedom in Bucks County” to support the work of the African American Museum of Bucks County.