TIME TEAM AMERICA digs for the remains of the first American town founded by freed slaves. In 1836, "Free Frank" McWorter purchased his freedom from a Kentucky plantation owner and headed north. When he reached Illinois, he planted roots, started a town and sold enough property to buy the rest of his family out of slavery. A farmer's field now covers this dramatic testament to victory over enslavement. The local landowners and the McWorter family want to uncover what remains of New Philadelphia to memorialize its history and the history of their ancestors. TIME TEAM joins in the search for the remains of the schoolhouse where New Philadelphia's black children learned to read and write in freedom.
