Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In an effort to portray African-Americans in a different light than a lot of Americans see them, Wayne Hare is seeking out places in the West where African-Americans have achieved, struggled and succeeded.
Nicodemus, Kansas, founded in 1877, is the only black American, post-Civil War town still in existence in the West. As part of our Civil Conversations series, writer Wayne Hare and documentarian/videographer Mara Ferris traveled to Nicodemus to learn about the town’s vibrant past, explore the disturbing social and economic forces that led to its rapid retreat, and get inspired by the people behind its improbable persistence today.
Civil Conversation is a new, ongoing series exploring the experiences of African-Americans in the West, in an effort to create more informed public dialog on issues of race and racism.
High Country News is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) independent media organization that covers environmental news and other important issues and stories that define the American West. Through insightful, in-depth journalism, it strives to inform and inspire people to act on behalf of the West's diverse natural and human communities.
In an effort to portray African-Americans in a different light than a lot of Americans see them, Wayne Hare is seeking out places in the West where African-Americans have achieved, struggled and succeeded.
Nicodemus, Kansas, founded in 1877, is the only black American, post-Civil War town still in existence in the West. As part of our Civil Conversations series, writer Wayne Hare and documentarian/videographer Mara Ferris traveled to Nicodemus to learn about the town’s vibrant past, explore the disturbing social and economic forces that led to its rapid retreat, and get inspired by the people behind its improbable persistence today.
Civil Conversation is a new, ongoing series exploring the experiences of African-Americans in the West, in an effort to create more informed public dialog on issues of race and racism.
High Country News is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) independent media organization that covers environmental news and other important issues and stories that define the American West. Through insightful, in-depth journalism, it strives to inform and inspire people to act on behalf of the West's diverse natural and human communities.
