Welcome to the Union Literary Institute Preservation Society
The Union Literary Institute Preservation Society (ULIPS) is an Indiana non-profit dedicated to promote and preserve the historical character, associations, and architecture of the Greenville Negro Settlement/Longtown in Greens Fork Township, Randolph County Indiana and in Liberty Township, Darke County, Ohio.
Union Literary Institute
The Union Literary Institute was one of the first schools to offer higher education without regard to color or sex before the Civil War. It was established in 1845 by a biracial board, including freed blacks from nearby settlements. At the time, Indiana laws did not allow blacks to attend public schools. Students labored four hours a day in exchange for room and board.
The Union Literary Institute was a unique school conceived during a time of racial prejudice and strife. Anti-slavery Quakers founded the Institute with free blacks who lived near the Greenville Negro Settlement, Longtown, Ohio that straddled the Indiana-Ohio state line. The Institute made no distinction for race, color or sex at a time when interracial education was virtually unheard of prior to the Civil War.
James and Sophia Clemens Farm
James Clemens was the first man of color to purchase land in Darke County in 1818. James Clemens was also the founding father of the Longtown settlement, and the Clemens were conductors in the Underground Railroad. In addition, James Clemens also helped establish the Union Literary Institute and his sons were on its first board. The Clemens Farmstead is listed on The National Register of Historic Places and is recognized as an Underground Railroad Site by the National Parks Service.
Board of Directors:
Sarah Mitchell, President
Tom Harshman, Vice-President
Sunny Mitchell, Treasurer
Dr. Jayne R Beilke, Secretary
Dr. Thomas Hamm
Joan Pike
Brenda Jett
Alan Taylor
Craig Leonard
Greg Clemens
Richard Miller
Board of Directors serve a three-year term and are elected at the Annual Meeting. The members represent descendants of Longtown families, white allies, teachers, and anyone interested in the history of Indiana/Ohio.
This website is supported by a grant from the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).