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HISTORY LIVES

History Lives: Black History

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Layle Lane (1893-1976), educator and social activist, ran a farm in New Britain Township for inner city youth during the Great Depression.
At the corner of Ferry Road and the road named after her, Layle Lane, a historic marker reads as follows:
“Layle Lane, educator, social activist, humanitarian, and political leader lived and ran a camp for inner-city Philadelphia and New York youth on this property of 23 acres called La Citadelle Camp named after the fortress in Haiti representing high ideals and principles. During the Depression years (1930s) she ran a farm camp (co-op) program at La Citadelle to feed poor inner-city families in Philadelphia and New York. Layle played a major role in the first march on Washington in 1941, which led to the passage of the Fair Employment Practice Act and Commission under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
“In 1948 Layle played a major role in encouraging President Harry Truman to desegregate the American Military. This street, Layle Lane, is the first street named after an African-American woman in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.”
It is widely believed that Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a friend of Lane, was so impressed by the New Britain camp that she inspired her husband, President Franklin Roosevelt, to use the model as he developed the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Source: Intelligencer, February 21, 2011

Doylestownhistorical.org

About History Lives, Feb. 3: My dad, Ron Ebberts, bought Meininger’s store in 1973 and worked alongside Ren until Ren retired. My father died in 1979 and my mom, Marilyn, and brother, Steve, ran the store until my brother sold the property to Buckmans in 1990. My parents named it Meininger Sports Haven and in 1984, my brother changed the name to just Sports Haven.
-Robin Greulich


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