Do you know that in 1883, Prof. John Byrd, an African American aeronaut visiting Davenport, ascented in a hot air balloon, and made history. When his balloon was 2 miles from the ground, some of the ropes were loosened and became entanlged, and the canvas of his balloon was torn leaking gas. Prof. Byrd climbed out of the basket, up the cord, untangled the ropes and repair the leak and returned to the basket. You can read about the story from the PACG blog http://www.pacgqc.org/blog.

Information like is are not available from the internet. Local historian Craig Klein has been gathering stories like this, and he's preserving these historical events by making them available at the Martin Luther King interpretive Center. To celebrate Black History Month, PACG is raising funds to purcahse an interactive KIOSK for the MKL Interpretive Center so the public can learn about the history of African American in our area.

In honor of African American History month, and in support of the Friends of the MLK Interpretive Center’s efforts to preserve local African American history, the Civil Rights Forum of Progressive Action for the Common Good is holding a fund drive. Our goal is to raise $2,200 to donate to the Friends of the MLK Interpretive Center to purchase a large interactive screen (one of seven needed) to share this history with the public. For more about the MLK Interpretive Center, with a picture of the kiosks that will hold the display screens, go to this PACG Blog post.