Junction City Juneteenth and Prairie Heritage Inc. will host “The Nicodemus Connection to a Vice President,” a presentation and discussion by Angela Bates on Wednesday, May 20th, 2015 at 7 p.m. at the Dorthy Bramlage Public Library. 

Before homesteading as free men in the African American settlement of Nicodemus, Kansas, Tom Johnson and John Samuels were enslaved by U.S. Vice President Richard M. Johnson. This presentation explores their lives on the Johnson plantation, the tragic split of their families, and their migration and settlement on the western plains of Kansas.

Angela Bates is the executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society. She presents educational programs across the nation covering Nicodemus, Exodusters and black towns in the West, Buffalo Soldiers, and black women in the West.