Dunlap
After researching the town where Callie Mae lived in Kansas, my
co-author and I went to Dunlap to experience the area. We found remnants of a
school, a grain elevator, and a few out-buildings. This Black community was the
largest in the state at one time with over 300 residents. There was a
Freedmen’s Academy in the town Callie Mae could have attended. All that is left
is the gymnasium.
The most interesting area was the Black cemetery located near the
town. Although many grave stones have deteriorated, it is possible to view
names and those serving in the Civil War had been noted with a decal on the
stone. We were able to take rubbings from the stones.
We did visit Rock Creek and found a hill where Callie Mae’s dugout
might have been located. Rock Creek still floods its banks just as it did for
the family in our story. There were more than a dozen communities occupied by
Blacks and sadly all have become ghost towns with the exception of Nicodemus.
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