Established by Hope Dennis (1906-2006) and her niece, M. Denise Dennis, in 2001, the Dennis Farm Charitable Land Trust, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit was created to preserve a rare and beautiful historical and cultural resource in the Endless Mountains of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.
The Prince Perkins Family, free African Americans from Connecticut who purchased land in Northeast Pennsylvania in 1793, originally settled the Dennis Farm, making them one of the first families to settle in the mountainous region following the American Revolution.
Their descendants, the Dennis Family, retained ownership of the 153-acre property into the 21st century and have remained stewards.
The history of the Dennis Farm and Family is fully documented.
This continuous and documented ownership of property by African Americans in a Northeast county largely populated by European Americans represents a unique, overlooked and remarkable story in American History that holds lessons for us today.
The Dennis Farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Artifacts from the Dennis Farm are in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The mission of the Dennis Farm Charitable Land Trust is to continue to develop the Dennis Farm as an educational and cultural destination for scholars, researchers, cultural heritage tourists, school groups and others who are interested in its extraordinary history.
To achieve this, the Trust is raising funds to restore the 19th century farmhouse for reuse as a museum and to construct an Interpretive Center on the site.
To learn more, visit www.thedennisfarm.org