Freedomtown is a quiet little town west of Philadelphia, but potential residents must meet the requirements of the town charter: They must be African-American (a descendant of a former slave), they must marry within their own race, they must live above the poverty -line and they must have no criminal past.

The founder, Samuel Freeman, a fugitive slave, wrote the town charter over one hundred -forty one years ago, and even though times have changed his descendants see no reason to amend the town charter.

Some residents have slipped through the cracks over the years, but the descendants...