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Campaign underway for New Philadelphia stamp

Tri States Public Radio | By Rich Egger
Published October 7, 2025 at 2:40 PM CDT
Image of Frank and Lucy McWorter is from the change.org petition page.

An online campaign calls for creation of a postage stamp to commemorate the founders of New Philadelphia in western Illinois.

Frank and Lucy McWorter were the first Black people to plan and legally register a town in the United States.

New Philadelphia is in Pike County. It was founded in 1836.

The town no longer exists, but the site is now the New Philadelphia National Historic Site under the National Park Service.

Organizers of the postage stamp campaign say they have collected close to 750 pen-and-paper signatures.

Those involved with the campaign include the McWorter family, the New Philadelphia Association, and the Freedom Corridor.

More about New Philadelphia can be heard in the "Journey Toward Freedom" episode of TSPR's Welcome to Forgottonia podcast.

Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.

Copyright 2025 Tri States Public Radio
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Pittsfield IL (Pike County) New Philadelphia
Rich Egger
Rich is the News Director at Tri States Public Radio. Rich grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago but now calls Macomb home. Rich has a B.A in Communication Studies with an Emphasis on Radio, TV, and Film from Northern Illinois University. Rich came to love radio in high school where he developed his “news nerdiness” as he calls it. Rich’s high school had a radio station called WFVH, which he worked at for a couple years. In college, Rich worked at campus station WKDI for three years, spinning tunes and serving at various times as General Manager, Music Director and Operations Manager. Before being hired as Tri States Public Radio’s news director in 1998, Rich worked professionally in news at WRMN-AM/WJKL-FM in Elgin and WJBC-AM in Bloomington. In Rich’s leisure time he loves music, books, cross-country skiing, rooting for the Cubs and Blackhawks, and baking sugar frosted chocolate bombs. His future plans include “getting some tacos.”
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